The Human Condition
by Torchwood85
Summary: "I'm still here Rose." He murmured squeezing her hand and stepping closer to her side. "I'm still me." Who is this person who looks, smells and feels like the man she loves. Is it an end for them, or just the beginning? TenII/Rose.
1. Chapter 1

She felt his cool hand slip into her own as she stood staring at the indent the TARDIS had made in the soft sand. Her hair whipped painfully around her face as she stood motionless.

"You left." She whispered, sad eyes unwavering from the vacant space in front of her.

"I'm still here Rose." He murmured squeezing her hand and stepping closer to her side. "I'm still me."

She looked up at him through the tears that threatened to fall. "Is it really you?" She sobbed, searching his eyes. "Because I don't know how much more of this I can take."

He knew what she was looking for; she was searching for the stars and galaxies, the depths of the entire universe residing in his gaze. He smiled at her, part human he may be but that part of him would always remain the same, he was still a Time Lord, he would merely be able to live out her forever with her, if that's what she should choose. He let the essence of himself slide from his mind and swirl around her as he had done once before, almost a life time ago, and smirked slightly as her knees began to buckle. He held her up against the side of him.

"See," He grinned as she composed herself, "Still me."

"Oh." She breathed opening her eyes and then began laughing as she turned towards him, almost knocking him off his feet as she jumped into his arms. He joined her happily in laughter as he twirled them around.

"You're here." She cried into his neck.

"Always." He replied into her hair as he breathed her in. She pulled back to look at him, not stepping out of the warmth of his embrace a solemn expression on her face.

"Will you be alright?" She asked quietly looking back to the faint markings left on the beach as the tide began wiping them from existence.

"Yes." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry it had to end this way." He followed her gaze. "But I had to leave us both here." He looked back at her blank expression.

"My time was ending Rose; this body was made for you, this me." He was pleading her with his eyes to understand. "He'll change very soon, he could feel it and I knew you'd be devastated to lose another me. That's why I won't change, I'll always stay this me." He sighed and glanced down at his trainers.

She seemed to consider something as she slipped one hand from around his neck and placed it against his chest as she had done earlier.

"Bit weird," She commented screwing up her nose at him curiously. "Only one heart?"

He laughed out loud at this and pulled her against his chest pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"We're actually only born with one you know," He smiled down at her. "The second doesn't grow until after the first regeneration."

"Still," She frowned glancing up at him uncertainly. "Bit different."

"Good different or bad different?" He raised his eyebrow and smirked at her.

"It so is you." She laughed shoving him playfully in the chest. "Still a smug git."

"Rose Tyler you wound me deeply." He feigned hurt, and she nudged him in the shoulder as they began walking towards the cliffs, sobering at the sight of an incredibly irate Jackie.

"Norway?" Jackie glared at The Doctor who swallowed audibly. "Of all the places you could have dropped us, you prat of an alien, you dump us back in bloody Norway!"

"Mum!" Rose chastised. "Weren't his fault."

"Is so," Jackie argued before answering her phone. "He's still the Doctor, which still makes him a prat."

"Yea, sorry about that." He apologised to Rose as Jackie ranted at Pete over the phone. "I couldn't risk moving too far away from the gap." Rose smiled at him, sitting herself down on the flattest seat shaped rock she could find and patted the space next to her.

"I know," She replied as he sat down. "I remember what you said last time we were here; I wouldn't have wanted you to risk the TARDIS. She's too important." She twiddled her thumbs absent-mindedly as she thought. "I missed her, will miss her." She spoke finally.

"Yea, me too." He smiled sadly wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "But we'll have her back soon enough."

"The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS." She smiled. He squeezed her shoulders as she leant heavily against his side.

They sat in silence watching the tide slowly creep up the beach before Jackie returned, much calmer now, and stood watching them with a small smile on her lips. The Doctor noticed her out of the corner of his eye but didn't turn. She moved closer before she spoke.

"Pete's got a zeppelin waitin' for us in Bergen." She nodded towards the path up the cliff, "He's sendin' a car to meet us up the hill, should only be bout' a half hour." She smiled pulling her jacket tighter around her and moving along the cliff face to the small stone stair case cut into the rock.

The Doctor stood and pulled Rose up after him, supporting her with a strong arm around her waist. She was exhausted, he could feel it as well as see it in the way she held herself, he wasn't quite sure how long she'd gone without proper rest, but he guessed it was probably a few months. His chest felt tight at the thought that she was unhappy the entire time she had been here, he'd hoped she'd found the strength to go on and live her life without him as fantastically as he'd always wanted her to.

"Couldn't do it." She mumbled barely able to stay awake as they reached the top of the cliff and he gently lifted her into his arms. "Not without you." He dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Get out of my head." He whispered and reigned in his thoughts, moving towards Jackie who smiled down at her now sleeping daughter cradled in his arms then back at him.

"She's been through so much Doctor." Jackie whispered. "It's been hard on her being without you."

"It's been hard without her too." He admitted looking down at her sleeping form.

"Thank you." Jackie told him honestly moving beside him and grasping his arm gently. "Thank you for Pete, and Tony and for keepin' her safe and for comin' back, you're a good man Doctor and I thank you every day for all of it."

"Even if I am a stupid prat?" He smirked at her as their taxi came into view on the horizon.

"Even then." She laughed. "You're meant for each other," She stated staring lovingly at her daughter, "Knew it back with big ears." He was slightly startled by her admission.

"Still," He conceded. "Bit of an age gap then."

"You're nine hundred years old Doctor." Jackie snorted. "No matter what you look like there's an unimaginable age gap. But none of that matters." She assured him. "She loves you and from what I can tell, you've always loved her. And that's all that really matters to me." She opened the back door for him when the taxi came to a stop.

"You're quite perceptive Jackie Tyler." He smiled as he entered the car and adjusted Rose's position in his lap. She raised her eyebrow and closed his door before moving to where the driver held hers open and took a seat next to him and Rose.

"Always knew you were never as thick as you made out to be." She slapped him on the arm and chuckled as the taxi took them away from the beach.

"Don't you forget that either." She smiled and relaxed into her seat. "Welcome home Doctor."

Rose clutched at his suit and snuggled into his chest. "Indeed." He smiled back at Jackie.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bergen was a hive of activity as they drove into town just as the sun began to set. Their route took them through the centre of the beautiful old city, and The Doctor had a passing thought to perhaps one day bring Rose back here, under better circumstances of course, to explore and experience its rich culture. They sat in a comfortable silence watching the city pass them by, Jackie dozing on and off while he remained wide awake watching over the both of them. Half an hour later they pulled into the airport and he gently whispered into Rose's ear.

"Time to go home." Her eyes blinked open and she nodded as gently she slid off his lap and exited the car, thanking their driver before moving inside the busy terminal. Jackie left them to speak with an attendant at the check in counter as The Doctor and Rose stood together, hands entwined as people moved around them, dashing about in different direction. Jackie thanked the woman behind the desk and nodded towards the small coffee house on the floor above them.

"Their refuellin'," She spoke as they followed her up the stair case and seated themselves at a table closest to the large glass windows that looked out onto the tarmac.

"They'll give us a call when they're done and got clearance to leave." She sighed. "Thought we could all do with a nice hot cuppa while we wait."  
Jackie called over a waiter and ordered for them. They sat in relative silence as they observed the steady flow of arrivals and departures milling through the busy airport below them, until finally a young woman appeared with three steaming mugs.

"Thanks Mum." Rose breathed as she sipped her tea appreciatively. The Doctor murmured his appreciation also as he felt the hot liquid warm his throat then spread through his chest.

"Been far too long since I've had a decent cup." He sighed, breathing in the warm calming tendrils.

"You wait till we get back to London," Jackie chuckled sipping her own, "Then you'll get a decent one." They sat for a few minutes in silence when their boarding call came over the PA system.

_ATTENTION PASSENGERS: TORCHWOOD ZEPPELIN ONE READY FOR DEPARTURE AT GATE 21_

"That was quick." Jackie glanced up at the ceiling as she drained the last of her tea, the Doctor eyed her.

"Since when do you speak Nynorsk Jackie?" He questioned, quite interested that perhaps Jackie had also grown and learnt new things in her time in this world.

"Since never," Rose laughed standing and pushing her chair into the table. "Torchwood, doesn't translate here so it's spoken in English." Jackie rolled her eyes at her daughter.

"I could learn it if I wanted." She replied defensively as they fought their way through the crowd to their gate. "Besides, why would I bother when she can translate it all anyways." She shrugged shooting a thumb in Rose's direction as they passed down the jet bridge and stopped in front of two men in black suits.

"Mrs Tyler, Miss Tyler, Doctor." The one on the left addressed as the man on the right opened the heavy steel door for them. "We're ready to depart as soon as you're all settled." Jackie nodded.

"Good men." She replied and the three of them boarded the ship and moved to sit down in one of the luxurious seats next to the window. The Doctor and Rose sat opposite her and strapped themselves in as the two men closed the outer door and moved through another, closing it behind them. A few seconds passed before the ship rumbled as it lifted away from the terminal.

"We're clear now Ma'am." A voice came over the PA and Jackie unclipped her seat belt, and pressed a small button on the arm of her chair. A table top extended from the wall beside them and Jackie reached into another compartment in the wall next to her and produced a bottle and glass.

"Mum!" Rose scolded.

"What?" Jackie replied frowning as she poured the liquid into the glass and downed it in one mouthful. "It's been a long few days Rose, I'll do what I like," She challenged her daughter. "Besides we won't reach London for another eight hours, Pete'll never know."

"Yea right." Rose laughed pulling two more glasses out from under the table and reaching across, snatching the bottle away. She passed one full glass to the Doctor and held her own in the air as Jackie refilled hers. She sighed.

"We stopped the stars goin' out." Rose glanced between her mother and the Doctor.

"That we did." He nodded solemnly.

"To us all." Jackie charged. "Those who came back, and those who didn't" They all took a mouthful of Scotch and remained in companionable silence for a few moments before Jackie stood up.

"I'm gonna go have a shower and change before dinner." She nodded behind them.

"There are more rooms that way Doctor; if you like you can do the same." She smiled as she moved towards a door next to the one the two pilots disappeared through.

"Mum." Rose called as she reached the door. "Thanks." Rose smiled. "For everything."

"Anytime." She nodded and disappeared.

As they sat together finishing their drinks, Rose chanced a sniff at herself and was quite taken back by the odour wafting from her jacket.

"God I stink." She sniffed her shirt then. "Why didn't you tell me I smelt this bad?" She glanced accusingly at the Doctor who was trying to hold a grin behind his glass.

"Shut up you." She nudged his shoulder and a bark of laughter erupted from him. She sniffed his suit jacket and held her nose to over emphasize the stench coming from him too.

"Oh stop it, I don't smell that bad." He laughed then took a sniff himself. "Oh," He frowned. "Maybe I could do with a shower." It was her turn to laugh at the speed at which he stood up and moved towards the hallway behind them.

"Wait for me!" She scrambled off her seat and chased him up the hall. He turned and began walking backwards as he smirked at her.

"Is that an offer Miss Tyler?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and laughed as she froze in the hallway as he disappeared into the room at the end.

"Git." She smiled and pressed a finger to her lips. She'd definitely have to kiss him again one day soon, another good snog would wipe that smirk right off his face.


	3. Chapter 3

The Human Condition Chapter 3

Rose emerged from her room to find Jackie showing the Doctor pictures she had of little Tony which she kept tucked safely away in a small wallet in the inner pockets of her blue over coat. He grinned up at her as she walked in and sat down across from them. He quickly jumped up and moved to sit next to her as one of the pilots brought their dinner to the table.

"This is all a little bit posh Jackie." The Doctor commented as he surveyed his surroundings once more.

"Since when is steak and veg posh?" She frowned at him around her mouthful. "Besides," Jackie added, "They brought it on in Bergen and nuked it. I can tell."

"I wasn't talking about the food Jackie," The corner of his mouth rising up in an almost smirk. "I meant all this." He gestured to the grandeur of their current means of transportation.

"Yea, it is a bit much really." She took a sip of water. "Some days I'd kill for a cramped plane trip with a shitty TV dinner, just for the normalcy of it. In some places this world isn't half a bit balmy."

The Doctor laughed and stuffed a forkful into his mouth. Jackie definitely suited this new life of hers he thought, but even if she could afford a posh zeppelin and things, she was still an estate girl, foul language and all bless her. The Doctor was glad some things never changed.

The meal concluded with the ringing of Jackie's phone and soon after, she bid The Doctor and Rose goodnight and retired to her room cooing and babbling to her young son in the ear piece.

"Come on." He nudged, taking Rose's hand and moving them silently down the hall. He opened the door to Rose's temporary quarters and wandered towards the large windows at the far end. Neither of them bothered with lights save it destroy the beauty of the North Sea sparkling by moonlight.

He sat down in the sofa next to the window and stared out into the night, at the moon that wasn't his own, at the stars that hung around it, also not his own. It was all completely new to him and he was excited. He glanced over at Rose leaning beside him.

"We've a whole new universe to discover," He smiled gently, slipping his hand into hers. She squeezed back and grinned up at him before returning her head to his shoulder.

"Better wif two." She murmured.

"Oh definitely." He agreed quietly glancing fondly at the top of her blonde head.

"Do you still feel it?" Rose queried after a time. "The spinnin' and all?"

"I'm still the same Rose; I'll just get old this time round." He replied, entwining their fingers as a yawn broke across her face.

"Go on, off you go. Sleep now." She let out a sigh and lay down resting her head in his lap.

"Can't believe your really here." She murmured softly drawing a soft smile across his face.

"Me either." He whispered. "But I am, and I promise you, this time we have forever."

She missed his reply completely as she dropped into unconsciousness, the first real sleep she'd had in four years. Dreams of their future came unbidden as she slept, and in those the tiniest inkling that perhaps the presence of The Doctor now in this universe, was no coincidence.

The Doctor who had sat watching the night pass into early morning frowned down at Rose as her dreams siphoned gently into his head as he sat watching her sleep, her proximity and contact strengthening the link she was unconsciously trying to make with his mind.

"What's this then?" He frowned examining the thought processes and waves emanating from her sleeping form, slightly higher than normal brain activity for a human he noted briefly, and watched as somehow, somewhere in her mind a puzzle piece drifted into place, almost similar to how his timeline, at that precise moment solidified and stretch out before his eyes, with the pinkish gold thread of his companion twisting and colliding with his own.

"Interesting." He mused wiping a hand across his roughening stubble, speaking aloud to himself. "Seems as though this universe is taking my presence in its stride." His attention refocused as his companion stirred and sat up squinting at the soft light coming through the glass before turning to grin up at him sleepily.

"Hello." She blushed looking down at their entwined hands. He just grinned at her, earning him an eye roll.

"Shut up." She laughed softly as she got up and opened a small cabinet which revealed a tiny kitchenette. She set the kettle to boil and pulled out two mugs.

"Be back in a sec, jus gotta use the loo." She called ducking into the small ensuite. He chuckled and moved to finish the tea just as the kettle bubbled its completion. He sipped his mug as he held out Rose's just as she stepped out the door and smirked as she took it from him without missing a beat. He always knew they revolved around each other, good to see he hadn't lost his touch. She stopped and took a tentative sip before turning toward him questionably.

"What do you mean?" She frowned and it took a second for him to catch up, recalling his previous vocalised thought just as she had awakened.

"Times lines," He replied by a way of explanation, "I can see them again."

"Oh right." She nodded cupping her hands around the warm mug, gently blowing across the steaming liquid. He stood watching her as a smile began to twinge on his lips developing into another smirk, which he noted he'd done a lot in this new body, as she continued not really understanding.

"So is that a good thing?" She frowned pulling her messy hair up in a loose knot. "A normal thing for a meta- um no, regenerated hand, Doctor, whatsit?" She stared at him blankly before hurling a pillow from the nearby chair at his head as he tried to hold back a laugh.

"Yes, it is a good thing." he breathed happily, sitting back down in his spot on the couch, "And the easiest way for you to wrap your head around what happened to create me is actually no more than a regeneration." She plopped down next to him and put her mug on the coffee table. "You remember when I challenged the Sycorax and I grew a hand to replace this one?" He held up his right hand and wiggled his fingers at her. She nodded. "Well I simply grew a new body, with a little help from Donna."

"New, new, new Doctor then?" She smiled.

"Oh yes." He grinned and drank down the remainder of his tea. Rose seemed to consider something for a moment.

"So how much of you is Donna?" She asked curiously, "You don't look like her at all that I can see." She observed him from a different angle as she leant back against the couch.

"A few mannerisms here and there, my base DNA were my own, which is why, thankfully, I still look like me, Donna merely caused its structuring to revert itself slightly, back to a time before the time lords started meddling with genetics."

"So, you were what, all human once upon a time?" She questioned draining her cup and placing it on the table next to his.

"No, Rose." He smiled indulgently at her. "The Time Lords were one of the oldest civilizations in the universe, but that's beside the point." He rambled realising the extent of Donnas' affects on him didn't extend to any part of organising his thoughts before they were ejected out of his mouth. His attention was refocused by a small cough.

"Sorry," He shook his head and tried not to think of Donna. "What I am, is still a Time Lord," He stressed, "I spent the time at the academy, I passed my exams, I still did all of that, therefore I am." He looked at her then and at her small nod he continued. "What I am now, physiologically, is early Gallifreyan, with a few upgrades." He added as an after-thought.

"So you're not really human?" She queried softly and he smiled knowingly.

"The question you should really be asking me Rose Tyler is...," He replied gently. "...are all you humans really humans?" She stared at him incredulously for a moment.

"So all that talk about us really lookin' like you wasn't just you tootin' your own horn?"

"I most certainly do not 'toot my own horn' thank you very much." He folded his arms across his chest and proceeded to pout slightly. "And besides, how did you know I said that to Martha?" He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Spent a lot of time lookin' for you in other dimensions, came across a few companions too actually, spent a while with Martha Jones, she was nice, seen her once or twice here too, even met a few more of your incarnations." Her smile slipped slightly. He noticed.

"Which ones?" He asked grimacing, not sure whether he should be horrified or not.

"Nothin' bad," She started, "I mean none bad, was what I meant, just thought you said there was only one of you, yet every universe I landed in there was a different version of you." She shrugged. "Just not this one."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," he pulled her into his lap. "So sorry for everything I put you through."

"Was worth it." She spoke into his shirt. "You're worth everything to me." She whispered more to herself than him. "All of you."

He smiled into her hair then was suddenly thoughtful. "Just how many of me did you meet?"

"Eleven." She frowned at his expression.

"How is that even possible?" He mused.

"As far as we could tell, apart from things like the dark ages never happenin', or tiny subtle differences like the zeppelins, it was only the passing of time that changed, or you met someone that you didn't meet, or didn't meet someone or did something you didn't in the original universe which resulted in the divergences, therefore altering what had happened to us in our original time lines."

"Hmmmmm," he was quiet for a moment. "That was impressive." He nodded approvingly at her and she grinned.

"It's all a big ball of wibbily wobbly timey wimey stuff." She teased and fell to the floor clutching her stomach as she laughed hysterically.

"Caught that one did you?" He groaned.

"Yea." She squealed between fits of giggles. She laughed harder when he started to sulk.

"I'm never going to live that down am I?" He shook his head.

"Not in a hundred years Doctor." She smiled catching her breath and moving back to sit next to him.

"Suppose we should get ready." The Doctor mused as he stood and straightened his tie and slipped his suit jacket back on.

"Ready for what?" Rose asked standing up and nearly tripping over the coffee table.

"Jackie." A second passed and the woman in question knocked on the door, pushing it open to poke her head in.

"Oh good you're up." She smiled. "We had a good tail wind last night; we'll be back at ours in about ten." She ushered them out and after placing a fresh cup of tea in front of them both she sat and buckled her seat belt.

"You alright Jackie?" The Doctor asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I'm alright you plum," She huffed happily. "But you try being away from your child for more than a week." She instantly regretted it as she noticed his steely expression as he glanced out the window.

"Quite right." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry Doctor I..." He cut her off with a shake of his head and a wave of his hand.

"It's fine Jackie really." He smiled awkwardly, sipping his tea and held Rose's hand in his a little tighter.

"We're beginning our descent now Ma'am." Came the pilot's voice out of the overhead compartment five or so minutes later. And a few seconds after that the zeppelin shook and then stilled along with the sound of engines. The two men emerged and opened the hatch just as they were unbuckling themselves.

"Jacks?" Came Pete's anxious voice from the open doorway.

"Oh Pete." She practically launched herself down the stairs and right at the poor man, arms full of toddler.

"Oh I missed you so much, and my boy, how are you my little man, Mummy missed you." She peppered small kisses on his little laughing face before snogging Pete as she took the small boy out of his arms and cradled him to her chest.

Rose and the Doctor wore identical smirks as Pete blushed and released himself from Jackie's clutches to shake the Doctors hand.

"Doctor, Good to see you again." He smiled.

"And you Pete," He grinned. "Glad we're meeting under better circumstances this time round."

"Indeed Doctor." Pete chuckled smiling like a man who had just had the weight of the worlds taken off his shoulders. He could definitely identify with him there. He watched as he took Rose in his arms.

"Good to see you safe love." Pete squeezed her happily and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Missed you too Dad." She smiled as he pulled back to take in the face of the child he thought he might've lost. They began towards the house and Pete slipped back to stand between the Doctor and Rose as Jackie scrambled happily along in front chasing after her small but energetic son.

"Everything went how we planned on this side." Pete spoke quietly, only loud enough for them to hear. He looked across at the Doctor.

"I'm sure Rose will fill you in on that if she hasn't already." The Doctor nodded.

"But for now," Pete smiled, "there's a few people inside that wouldn't take no for an answer when I said you were all coming home."

"Dad, really, now isn't the time..." Rose began.

"I know, I know, that's what I said, but you know what they're like, especially that red-headed menace." Pete patted her on the shoulder apologetically and caught up with the rest of his family. The Doctor eyed Rose warily.

"I should have told you this sooner." Rose apologised. "I couldn't help finding them all, well, actually they all found me." She frowned and looked up at the Doctor as they came into the Tyler's kitchen and there, drinking tea and chatting were Sarah Jane, Jake, Martha and "Donna." He whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you too my reviewers, your love makes me happy. Please also note that as this story is after Journey's End, there is no Mickey as he stayed in the Original Universe. Sorry to disappoint but these stories are as close to cannon as they can get as far as character development goes. With some exceptions. And 10/Martha for me, did never, will never and should never ever happen. Cheers. xxoo_

Chapter 4

Before anyone even noticed they'd entered, Rose took his hand and pulled him gently into the pantry, quietly shutting the door. He stared dejectedly at her.

"I'm sorry Doctor, I know this hurts, but she wants to meet you." Rose sighed wearily as she paced in the small space in front of him. "She's wanted to meet you ever since she found me, knew things that she couldn't possibly... I didn't know what to do, she seems harmless enough but I..." He cut her ramblings short with a finger to her lips.

"You knew about my Donna?" She looked away, intent on studying a tin of peas on the shelf behind him. He ducked his head slightly, her eyes finally landing back on his.

"Yes." She whispered. "But not until after I'd already met her here. It's how I knew what to say to your Donna, how I gained her trust. She's my friend; she helped me when no one else could." Rose shrugged and he pulled her into a warm embrace pressing a kiss to her cheek. He grinned and inclined his head towards the door.

"Shall we?" He waggled his eye brows excitedly.

"You mean you're not mad?" Her eyebrows shot up to meet her hair line.

"No Rose I'm not, I could never be mad at you." He smiled cupping her cheek and gently running his thumb across her face. "I'm glad she found you, just as my Donna found me." He chuckled looking just above her head as he mused. "Must just be a thing with Donna's, they just know." He gave her a serious look before they burst out laughing, both thinking back to a time when they'd done a similar thing in another storage cupboard almost a life time ago. He grabbed her hand as he barged open the door almost knocking Jackie to the floor.

"What the...never mind I don't wanna know!" Jackie screeched as she moved past them to grab more biscuits.

"Mum!" Rose exclaimed blushing a very charming shade of crimson. "It's not like that, you know this." She seethed turning away from the Doctor who earned a slap on the arm for the smirk currently plastered on his face.

"Shut up." She threatened unconvincingly. All the commotion had attracted the attention of the other companions in the room. Rose's companions to be exact and how curious that they had found her he thought; perhaps she was his substitute in this world? No, not substitute, but an equal nearly perhaps. He smiled proudly to himself at the thought.

Rose handed him a mug of tea and began the introductions.

"Everybody, this is the Doctor," She smiled at him, "Doctor, this is everybody."

"Hello." He grinned and waved. Jake was the first to step forward and shook his hand vigorously.

"Nice to see you back here in one piece Doctor." He grinned.

"Jakey boy, keeping busy?" He laughed

"You know me, if there's somethin' to be overthrown, brought down or just generally gutted for the greater good I'm there."

"Good to know." The Doctor grinned as Martha approached him.

"Martha Jones." He exclaimed and reached out to take her hand, instead finding himself dragged into an embrace.

"Thank you." She whispered before stepping away to help Jackie make another pot of tea. "For everything." He nodded and smiled kindly at her, his attention however was snapped to the undecidedly suspicious ginger woman making her approach. She eyed him up and down then seemed to consider something for a few moments. He raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"He ain't half skinny Rose." She half turned to yell after her friend who had been talking to Jake across the room.

"That's what I said." Jackie added handing him a plate of biscuits.

"Leave him alone you two." Rose warned as she dashed back to his side, taking the plate from his hand and placing it down on the counter.

"No it's fine, really." He laughed not taking his eyes off his former friend, and to some extent, his saviour.

"Hello Donna Noble, I'm the Doctor." He held his hand out and she took it, almost staring into him, like she was sizing him up, then appearing to have found what she was looking for she shook his hand properly.

"I know who you are Spaceman, Rose's told me a lot about you, nice to finally put the name to a face. As skinny as it may be." She grinned and he couldn't help but return it.

"I'm glad you approve then as the case may be." He took a sip of his tea, careful not to burn himself on the hot liquid.

"So are you gonna marry our Rose or what?" That was Donna he thought, as hot tea was expelled through his nostrils and out across the floor, straight to the point.

"I...I...well I suppose...ummmm...she..." He was saved from formulating an answer by the woman in question.

"I thought I told you to behave." She scolded Donna as she handed the Doctor a serviette.

"Well excuse me, you waited all this time..." Donna began only to be cut off by the scowling and embarrassed face of her friend.

"Fine." Donna conceded refilling her tea cup while the Doctor recovered and Rose resumed her conversation with Jake.

"So how did you find Rose?" He half squeaked into his tea.

"Was tempin' at Torchwood bout four years back when we met, wasn't gonna take the job after all that Lumic rubbish went on, but something just clicked when we bumped into each other in the lobby, almost like déjà vu or somethin'." She took a mouthful of biscuit and chewed it thoughtfully. "But any ways 3 months later I was workin' for her full time, then three months after that we started at UCL, and we've pretty much been together ever since." She shrugged happily.

"Proudest day of my life Doctor, when my Rose and this one here stood up and accepted their degrees, oh you should have been there." Jackie patted him on the shoulder as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. The Doctor looked across at Rose, a small smile playing on his lips.

"She went..." He began.

"She was brilliant Doctor, is brilliant." Jackie preened, "Never thought she had it in her, but that's what you do love, you make them better." He turned to grin at Jackie. "How either of you can understand all those numbers or such though is completely beyond me."

"Hmmm numbers?" He queried Donna absently. "What exactly did you study?"

"Postgraduate Diploma of Physics me," Donna grinned smugly, "And Miss over there got a Masters in Advanced High Energy, Theoretical and Astrophysics."

"String theory?" He was flabbergasted.

"She did yea, I did what I had to so I could help her, to be honest she taught me more than those stuffy professors," Donna cringed then giggled. "Tell you what though; they didn't half like it when she kept tellin' em' they were wrong." Jackie joined in laughing too.

"Yea, if it wasn't for Pete they would have chucked her out." Jackie smiled proudly. "My little girl upsettin' the establishment. Wonder where she got that eh Doctor."

"Where indeed." He frowned musing silently to himself.

"They're quite a team Doctor." Jackie nodded towards the group in front of them. "Martha's a Doctor too ya know. They worked so hard to find you." She smiled sadly up at him. "Never thought they'd see her again let alone actually meet you."

"Could you have let her go Jackie?" He replied quietly.

"I don't think either of us could." She spoke honestly. "Which is why I'll love you every day of whatever time I have left because you're both here where you belong." He slipped an arm around the woman who was almost in tears.

"You're a brilliant woman Jackie." He smiled fondly.

"Oh stop it you." She slapped him gently on the arm as she turned her blush away. "Now off you go, lunch'll be here soon." The Doctor grinned then took a glance around him and out the kitchen windows.

"Jackie where is here exactly?" He queried scratching the back of his neck, "This house looks familiar..."

"Oh," Jackie smirked. "We're in Wiltshire, Pete sold the other place just after Norway, thought we could all use a fresh start."

"Wiltshire...Wiltshire..." He startled for a moment. "This is Ashcombe House." He balked at her.

"And what if it is Doctor," She poked him in the chest. "Besides, Madge don't exist here, so no material girl to miss her large, secluded, country estate." She turned as a knock came from the service entry.

"Give me a hand with this love will you." Jackie pushed four pizza boxes into his arms before thanking and paying the boy at the door. "This place serves its purpose though Doctor, only two hours to the city, but far enough away from Torchwood." She grimaced at the name.

"But I thought they all," He began confused. "Pete, Rose, Jake..."

"Torchwood it seems, can be corrupted in any universe Doctor." Jackie sighed. "Even with Pete and Rose at the head, they couldn't trust anyone." Rose had overheard and came and took the Doctors hand.

"And that's why we destroyed it." Rose said seriously. "Once Pete knew I'd found you he blew them all sky high. Torchwood 1, 2 & 3. We couldn't risk anyone tryin' to steal any more technology, especially not the dimension cannon."

"So that's what Pete meant." The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief as the man himself walked into the kitchen carrying Tony.

"My thanks to you." Pete nodded and began an attempt to search his pockets for something. He passed Tony absently to the Doctor and was surprised when the child went willingly into the potentially strange mans grasp. Tony stared at him for a moment.

"Hello Tony, I'm the Doctor." He said seriously at the small boy who cocked his head to one side in thought.

"Dotta." Pete, Jackie and Rose stood gaping as the child began giggling and proceeded to play with the Doctor unruly hair.

"Oh my little man's first word!" Jackie squealed happily, taking Tony from the Doctor. "I've gotta go grab the camera. Oh you've grown up so much."

Pete watched his wife walk off before remembering he had found what he was searching for and handed two small objects to the Doctor.

"This is a small thank you, for everything, my family, the universe, all the universes really. It was Rose's idea when we realised Torchwood would have to be completely destroyed. Jacks and I would have carried it on in Rose's absence, but since your both here now, it's yours if you want it." Pete smiled.

The Doctor turned the small business card over while passing a key to a speechless Rose.

"You did it." She whispered to Pete. The Doctor's grin got bigger, if it was at all possible.

"TARDIS Incorporated, Universal Relations." He ran his fingers gently over the embossed logo of the small blue box which was once his home. "By order of The Shadow Proclamation."

"When you're searching for a higher authority, there isn't one." Rose laughed as she read off the bottom of the card. "How did you manage that?"

"Had a little off world help," Pete smiled. "I've spoken with the Shadow Proclamation personally; they knew we were sending you through dimensions, thought the darkness were our fault, but when I told them why they agreed to help me, sure enough once you found him, they destroyed everything, not a trace of Torchwood, just a bad memory." He nodded towards the card, "You were right Doctor, there are some older and wiser things in this universe. And it seems they're all on your side."

"Who?" He asked curiously, Pete shrugged.

"Well the Proclamation for one, said they knew all about the Time Lords and were ecstatic to find we actually knew the very last, and someone else called the...um...boo...bow...face ..."

"Boe?" The Doctor and Rose asked together.

"Yea that's him." Pete nodded and shrugged. "Strange bloke, if he is a bloke, told em' you were to be trusted without question, was almost like he knew you'd be here." Pete was thoughtful for a moment. "These turned up on the door step just as Jackie called me last night. I'd never even sent a proof to the printers."

"Well," Rose shrugged, "Stranger things have happened." The Doctor nodded, then remembered what he'd handed to Rose.

"What's the key for?" He asked following Pete and Rose towards the kitchen table before snatching the slice Donna was about to grab. She eyed him and he stuffed the piece into his mouth with a smirk.

"Let's call it your new base of operations." Pete grinned at the both of them. "I assumed you no more want to live here with us than Rose did." The Doctor said nothing but took a long glance at Jackie alternating between fussing over Tony and snogging her husband.

"You're my hero Pete, did you know that?" The Doctor whispered across the table before earning an elbow in the ribs from the woman next to him.

"What?" He was having a hard time feigning ignorance.

"She's my Mum, be nice." Rose teased and Pete chuckled.

"There's room for all of you actually, I know most of your homes and things were destroyed in the attack on Torchwood," He spoke to the rest of the table, giving the Doctor a knowing glance, "But it's all taken care of."

"What do you mean?" Martha asked, the first time she had made a sound since introducing herself to the Doctor. Not quite as self assured as his Martha, but that would come in time he mused.

"Pete's bought us all a new house!" Jake laughed, not realising just how serious the look on the other man's face was.

"Nope," He continued eating his pizza, "I used the insurance money from Torchwood to buy a complex, should be enough room for you all to have an apartment of your own plus enough downstairs to become, oh I don't know, anything really." The whole table were silent save for Jackie snorting to herself and wiping food off her sons face.

"Privately funded of course." Pete added glancing up at the Doctor again. "Anything you need."

"That's very generous of you Pete." The Doctor murmured a little unsure.

"Don't thank me mate." Pete laughed as Jackie placed a familiar pink box covered in doughnuts on the table.

"Who?" He frowned; it was then that he noticed the infinitesimally small logo on the box in front of them.

_Bad Wolf Corporation_

"No." The Doctor was on his feet in a flash stopping only at the feel of a familiar hand on his arm.

"Relax Doctor." Rose smiled up at him. "In this universe, those words are safe."

"But...Bad.." He glanced warily between the box and her.

"Sit down you plum." Jackie laughed handing him a fluffy sugar coated treat. "They didn't have a Krispy **Kreme** in this universe Doctor, madam here decided she didn't want to live off Pete and I." The Doctor did as the woman said and sat staring at Rose.

"Thought I might as well make something decent of it, so much negativity surroundin' Bad Wolf, what could be better than associatin' it with somethin' that makes everyone happy?" Rose laughed; she saw his shoulders relax as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Makes enough that I don't have to worry about much, helped fund the work on the cannon too." She shrugged.

"I've also put what was left over from the insurance into a trust for the both of you. It wasn't much after I made sure the rest of the staff where taken care of but it should keep you out of trouble." Pete added. "The rest of you will find a rather significant redundancy package at your disposal."

Within seconds Donna was on her PDA and uttered only two words before falling off her chair unconscious. "I'm rich."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Doctor was seated on the coffee table fanning the still unconscious form of Donna with a magazine. He glanced up at the sound of a flustered Sarah Jane bursting through the front doors. Another set of foot falls followed her before the locking mechanism gently clicked back into place. He smiled as he overheard her apologising profusely to Rose for her untimely disappearance.

"I'm sorry Rose, Jackie," She huffed trying to reign in her breathing, "But I had to fetch Luke."

"No problem Sarah Jane," Rose laughed. "Hey Luke, been keepin' outta trouble?"

The Doctor couldn't make out the muffled response of the boy as Jackie ranted happily about her son's first words before remembering why they had come.

"Come through this way, himself is playing nurse maid." She entered the lounge just as Donna groaned and sat up before recalling why she had fainted and promptly resumed her unladylike unconscious sprawl across the sofa. The Doctor merely rolled his eyes as he stood and produced a small vial from the inside breast pocket. He uncorked the lid and waved it under Donna's nose causing her to jerk violently back into reality.

"Welcome back." The Doctor grinned and Donna waved him away from her face.

Jackie smirked as she poured herself, Donna and Sarah Jane a fresh mug of tea from the pot on the table.

"Hello Sarah Jane," The Doctor smiled as he offered the woman his hand. "Nice to meet you." She took his proffered hand and returned his smile warmly.

"And you Doctor," She laughed, "We've heard so much about you that this is almost akin to meeting an old friend." He grinned a little wider at that. _You have no idea. _He thought.

"I'd like you to meet my son Luke." He turned and shook the young man's hand.

"Luke, lovely to meet you," He smiled. "Fantastic mum you have there too by the way."

"I'll have to agree with you there Doctor." Luke grinned back as Sarah Jane continued.

"I'm sorry to say that our Rupert is running a little late, but he'll be so very excited to meet you Doctor, he's a Professor at UCL, taught both the girls, that's how we met."

"Oh well that's just brilliant." He beamed.

"He was one of the only ones that didn't make a fuss." Jackie pointed out as she sunk down into the sofa next to Donna and continued chatting with Sarah Jane about her time away. Martha and Jake came in from the kitchen and listened avidly as Jackie recounted their adventure. He was glad she could be the one to tell the tale, he was a little worn himself. Still, it was comforting to know that she didn't have to make up any sort of cover story for their time in the alternate dimension. The fact they had appeared to have accepted him on nothing more than face value and a few stories from Rose was a little unnerving if he was honest, but he was grateful none the less for not having to prove himself to these people.

The Doctor leaned up against the doorway, his lips twitching and growing steadily into a small grin as familiar fingers entwined through his own. He looked down into the exhausted face of his companion as she watched the small group hang on every one of Jackie's words. He released her hand and pulled her gently into his side, wrapping an arm around her. She smiled against his shoulder.

"It's been a long day." She murmured glancing at the clock on the mantle. They could smell dinner being prepared as the enticing aroma of roast meat wafted gently throughout the living room. Not much longer and the both of them would be able to retire for the evening. Doctor nodded a greeting to Pete as he stood in the door way next to himself and Rose, nursing a weary toddler. Rose reached over and brushed her fingers against Tony's little nose and laughed softly as the youngster screwed up his face and tried unsuccessfully to bat his sisters fingers away.

"He looks exhausted." Rose smiled at Pete.

"As do you both." He replied shifting Tony to his other shoulder as he fidgeted. Jackie looked up at Pete from across the room and smiled happily. Pete mouthed something to his wife and she stood up and began ushering everyone into the dining room.

"Come on you lot, supper's ready." There were no arguments and indeed very little conversation during dinner as the congregation ate their fill, the weariness of the past months beginning to take its toll on all of them. Jackie excused herself for a moment to whisper to one of the staff still present and after adding a thankful squeeze to the young woman's arm she returned to the table as the other dashed off up the stairs. They retired to the lounge again shortly after. Sarah Jane excused herself and Luke not long after that bidding them all goodnight after promising to bring Rupert around in the next few days provided he wasn't held up and work again. Jackie waved them off as the taxi pulled away from the house and sighed as Pete wrapped his arm around his wife. She smiled down at Tony asleep in his other arm.

"Let's go to bed love." Pete gently nudged her back inside and into the living room. She looked around at the exhausted company and smiled.

"You're rooms are all ready when you need them," Jackie spoke as she tried to stifle a yawn. "We'll see you all in the morning."

"Night Mum." Rose called softly and the Doctor nodded as Jackie and Pete both gave a small wave and disappeared up the stairs.

A few minutes later Donna received a kick to the shin from Rose as a small snore erupted from her side of the sofa.

"Oh alright then, night all." She sighed and after standing up a little stiffly she shuffled over and up the stairs.

Martha was the next to go, quickly followed by Jake. The Doctor raised his eyebrow in enquiry at Rose and nodded in their general direction.

"Thought Jakey boy batted for the other team?" He whispered causing Rose to giggle softly.

"So many species, so little time?" She grinned and he looked from her back to the doorway.

"Oh," He grinned back, "I see."

Rose yawned and dug herself deeper into his side. He waged a small war within himself to let her stay where she was, but logic served that they both needed some sleep, and as comfortable and warm as the sofa may be, this was not the best place to do it.

He stood and pulled a drowsy Rose along with him, supporting her weight up the stairs. She was dead on her feet and nearly missed the door to her room. He opened closed it quietly behind him and navigated them through the mess of books and papers towards the relatively untouched bed. He pulled back the covers and sat her down. After searching for a time through the dresser, he help Rose out of her jacket, trousers and shoes and tucked her into bed in what could possibly be the most offensively pink pair of pyjamas in existence. He grinned as she mumbled his name and something about not laughing. He stripped off his suit jacket and after flinging it in the direction of a nearby chair, kicked off his trainers and laid down next to her with his hands tucked comfortably behind his head.

He pulled the small piece of coral from his pocket and gently stroked its side. He grinned as it flickered just the tiniest bit. He rolled over slowly and placed his hand and the coral between himself and Rose, their breathing gently caressing the tiny organism. He could have sworn it rolled imperceptibly closer to Rose's warm breath.

"Ni' lil one." The Doctor watched as a small smile played across her lips as she mumbled in her sleep. He stared between the coral and his companion in awe as a pulse of awareness drifted into his mind.

"Oh you're a clever little thing aren't you?" He praised the treasure in his palm and felt it warm slightly as he placed it gently back in the safety of his bigger on the inside pockets and closed his eyes. The last thing he recalled before he surrendered to sleep was the feel of a small warm hand as it found his on the mattress between them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Doctor had awoken early the next morning, and after a quick shower, shave and a brief sonic rinse of his blue suit, he wandered off down to the kitchen leaving Rose comfortably sprawled out across the bed snoring softly.

He had been sitting quietly at the breakfast table for nearly two hours, staring out the large French doors nursing a mug of tea when the sounds of desperate feet came from the direction of the stair case. He frowned glancing in the direction of the sound and raised an eyebrow as a dishevelled and anxious looking Tyler ejected from the base of the staircase. She glanced quickly around the room and upon finding her target, visibly relaxed and shuffled over to deposit herself in the chair next to him. He took another sip of tea to hide his grin as Rose leaned her head heavily against his shoulder.

"Morning." He teased gently.

"Mmmmmhhhhnnnnnng." She murmured sleepily into his jacket. He poured her a mug of tea from the pot on the table and she accepted it gratefully.

"I thought you'd disappeared." She whispered as her hand slipped around the mug while the other searched out his rest gently in his lap.

"I'm not going anywhere Rose." He replied softly pressing a quick kiss to her forehead as the thunderous sounds of the others came down the staircase. Donna and Martha were talking excitedly as Jake followed behind them laughing to himself as they argued over the best place to purchase new furniture then quickly reverting back to actually processing the fact they could now purchase the items in the first place.

"Well at least we won't have a mortgage." The Doctor mused taking another sip of his tea. Rose smirked.

"Might have carpets though." She said seriously.

"Hmmm, and doors." He added uncertainly.

Breakfast proved to be an affair all on its own, the kitchen staff excelling in providing them a proper English breakfast with all the trimmings. Jackie had made sure they were all fed properly and smothered them with motherly affection before packing them all into the big black limousine with her husband and waving them off down the drive with Tony waving his small hands excitedly after them on her hip.

"Thank god that's over." Pete grinned across at the smirking Doctor.

"She's a special woman that one." The Doctor smiled.

"Specials one word for it." Pete quipped, Rose just laughed and settled herself into the Doctor's side

They chattered amongst themselves as they journeyed into the city, two hours seemed to pass relatively quickly and in no time at all they pulled up in front of an impressively old looking building. They piled out of the car and Pete looked to the Doctor who took the small key from Rose and opened the front doors. They found themselves in a large open domed foyer with an equally large, and indeed grand, staircase.

"Bugger me." Donna gasped. Martha and Jake were silent as they took in their surroundings. Pete ducked behind the rounded desk in front of the stairs and after scratching his head, reached into a cupboard and pulled out a large board of keys.

"Right." He said sorting them out across the desk in front of him. "Donna, you're in 1." He passed her a set of keys.

"Martha you're in 2, Jake 3, Doctor, Rose you're in 4." He threw the others a set of keys before opening another cupboard and with some effort, flicked a switch and the chandelier above them twinkled into life.

"Lifts are over there, pool and spa are up the stairs to the right, library is to the left, office space is over there," He pointed to the archway beside where they had entered, "Everything else you need is already in your rooms, washers, dryers, etcetera. This place was ready made, but apart from that the rest is up to you."

They stood speechless. Except for Donna of course.

"Right then, time to see the rest of this place." She grinned bolting across to the lift, followed by Martha and Jake. Rose sat herself down on the bottom of the staircase and watched as one by one the lift stopped before moving onto the next floor. The Doctor turned a delighted smirk at Rose as even through a whole floor Donna's voice could be heard.

"PETE TYLER I COULD KISS YOU!" The man himself shook his head with a laugh and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he moved to stand by Rose. The Doctor strode casually around the centre reception, admiring the domed ceiling and it's intricate patterned stained glass.

"This is really quite marvellous Pete, thank you." The Doctor grinned approvingly and despite himself Pete preened at the older man's praise. That had taken him a while to grasp, this man, well alien, who appeared so much younger than him physically, could be so impossibly ancient. He was indeed quite thankful to be able to give him this small gesture of appreciation.

"There were some items you requested saved Rose." Pete turned to his daughter, "They should be arriving tonight." He nodded towards another double door way tucked into the left hand side of the stair case. "They can bring them up from the garage through those doors. The rest will fit in the lift."

"What things?" The Doctor asked as he pulled Rose to her feet.

"No idea," Pete chuckled, "Technology is beyond me Doctor, but Rose said you might need them." He pulled Rose into a hug and shook the Doctor's hand once more.

"I'll let you get to it then, gonna be out of the country for a few days." Pete smiled. "Take Jacks and Tony some place warm and sunny. God knows she deserves it."

"Thanks again Dad." Rose smiled as Pete waved, slipping out the front doors and into the waiting car.

The Doctor took her hand and together they moved towards the lift. The Doctor slipped their key into the appropriate floor lock and they began to move, both were quiet but the silence wasn't deafening or awkward, just a pleasant moment between two people broken eventually by the small ding as the lift stopped and the doors sprung open.

They both stood staring at the open planned apartment which was indeed larger than some houses, The Doctor was pleased at the illusion it created. It seemed Rose was on the same page.

"Looks bigger on the inside." She grinned causing him to chuckle loudly as he followed her down into the expansive living room which looked out over the city through a continuous tinted glass window. In the centre was a round fire place, designed so as not to disturb the view from the circle of sofa. To their right was a modern kitchen, all stainless steel appliances and dark marble, the dining table and chairs hand crafted from dark mahogany contrasting well together, making it appear a little less sterile.

Three doors were on the wall to the left. Rose opened the first and stepped into a large white marbled bathroom with a loo off to one side, a spa bath large enough to possibly fit five in, and an equally impressively sized shower with multiple outlets. Oh she'd definitely like it here she smiled. The next door held a modest guest bedroom in a deep burgundy colour, and the next, the master bedroom, in soft creams and white with its own en-suite. Off the main bedroom were another set of curtained bi-fold glass doors.

The Doctor opened them as Rose explored the rest of the room. What he stepped out into was not what he had expected. Instead of concrete or tile, his trainer met with white and blue crystals, quartz he thought at the sound it made under his steps.

"Rose." He called, "Come see this." She poked her head around the doors and promptly dropped her jaw.

"Oh my god it's beautiful." She breathed moving beside him.

The terrace was full of vibrant green foliage consisting of everything from ferns to orchids, brightly coloured roses and violets breaking the greenery and in the centre, a large pond, which might have actually been a proper swimming pool at some stage. Water trickled at one end from a small water fall which disturbed the surface just enough to make the Lilly pads bob lightly. Rose kneeled down on the edge and ran a finger across the top of the water just above a large carp.

"This is brilliant." She grinned looking back up at the Doctor who crouched down and tested the water's temperature before placing his finger in his mouth with a thoughtful expression.

"Some things never change." Rose smirked moving towards the end of the room and opening a louver.

A gentle breeze of fresh air swept through the indoor garden. She turned to face the Doctor who had been gently pacing up and down the pool. Then he stopped and grinned at her.

"It's perfect." He said happily and ignored Rose's inquiring look as he searched his pockets with one hand and produced the sonic with his other. Rose was standing next to him by the time he had found the small coral he'd been looking for. He held it carefully in his palm.

"Hello there." He grinned at it.

"Oh," Rose smiled down at the object as he gently placed in her cupped hands. "Hello girl."

"How do you know it's a girl." He chastised. "What happens if she turns out to be a he? A TARDIS with a complex could be a terrible thing you know."

She shrugged as he replaced one of her hands with his own under the coral and flicked the sonic a few times to find the right setting.

"Dunno, jus' feels like the old TARDIS but different." She held still as the Doctor ran the screwdriver over the coral and watched intrigued as the small piece shook and twinkled a vibrant orange before lifting slightly out of their hands and doubling in size. It was a lot heavier when it returned to their grasp and Rose was startled as a small nudge bid access to the back of her mind.

"Is that her?" She smiled in wonder, stroking the small piece as she relaxed and gave the little one access to her mind. She didn't really know how to do that but she assumed if she just gave it permission it'd do what it wanted with anything she had up there.

"Mmhmmm." The Doctor grinned.

"How long do you think til she'll be grown up?" She asked.

"Oh, I don't know." The Doctor mused. "I've used the technique Donna suggested so perhaps a few months, a year maybe?"

"So soon?" Rose frowned looking down worriedly at the coral. "Are you sure she'll be ready, she's just a baby."

"Oh but it won't be for much longer, it'll quadruple its size by the end of today. By this time next month it'll be ready for the integration of the internal dimensions." He wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders as he gently pushed the coral out into the middle of the pool.

She was surprised that it didn't sink straight away considering its weight. After a few moments the piece slowly drifted away from the surface and disappeared from sight.

They stood in silence together letting the significance of what they had just done set in.

"Oh." Rose gasped turning to the Doctor. "Can ya hear it?" He nodded ecstatically and scooped her up in his arms.

"Yes," He laughed. "Yes I can."

"I've missed the TARDIS song." Rose admitted, not willing to release her hold on him.

The Doctor's response was interrupted by the sounds of Donna Noble's voice over the intercom. Rose sighed and walked back in through the bedroom and pressed a button on the wall near the door.

"Donna?" Rose queried into the speaker.

"Oi when you two are done, meet us in the lobby, oh that sounds so posh," She sent herself off on a tangent. "We need to go shopping Rose."

Rose sent an apologetic look in the Doctor's direction.

"She's right, all our things were destroyed when Torchwood blew," She looked him up and down briefly. "Don't suppose you're hiding any more suits in those pockets either?"

"Nah, didn't really think that far ahead." He admitted stuffing his hands in his pockets. Rose turned back to the speaker.

"Alright, see you in 5 then." She shut off the intercom and looked about the room.

"Suppose this was inevitable yea." She smiled weakly at him before nodding towards the door. "Let's get this over with." They moved into the lift and rode hand in hand down to the lobby, both taking a deep breath as the doors opened on their friends waiting around talking excitedly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The rest of the morning had turned out better than the Doctor had expected. Shopping it seemed, was not as excruciatingly painful as he had once imagined. He sat with Jake outside a small coffee shop sipping a banana milkshake happily as his three other companions had excused themselves to shop for more intimate apparel in another store a little further up the street.

The Doctor had managed to purchase everything from hair care products and tooth paste to several tailored suits and new trainers, even managed to procure a coat owned by one Janis Joplin. He was quite impressed with himself indeed. Rose had felt the need to also acquire what she called 'homey touches' for their apartment, which was fine with him, especially when she had made no arguments in securing a very old set of encyclopaedia's, the complete works of Charles Dickens, the Immortal Nicholas Flamel as well as practically every other book in the store. The Doctor turned his attention back to Jake who appeared to be fretting slightly in the absence of Martha.

"So," The Doctor grinned. "You and Martha, congratulations."

"How did you know..." Jake began.

"It's a rather impressive stone Jake, I'm surprised it wasn't noticed from orbit."

"Yea, it is a bit big," Jake laughed. "But it's what she deserves. Spent all that time waitin' for me to get over Ricky. Then all the stars were goin' out, thought I'd never see her again, so I made a promise to myself that if we got out of it alive, I'd make her my first priority, showed her properly how much she means to me."

"Good for you Jake." The Doctor smiled, the significance of the statement weighing heavily in the back of his mind. "So have you set a date yet?"

"We talked about it this morning and agreed the sooner the better." He said sucking on his straw loudly. "Thought Christmas would be a perfect time for it, was gonna ask Jacks if we could use the gardens."

"That sounds brilliant." The Doctor enthused. "I love weddings, probably be better if you relax the dress code though, bad things happen when I wear a tux."

"Yea I remember." Jake laughed. "Lucky for us she only wants something simple. Small ceremony, friends, flowers and cake. You know all the good bits." Jake turned serious for a moment.

"She has no family Doctor." He said quietly. "They were all killed last time you were here."

"I know." The Doctor replied solemnly. "But we'll make sure she knows she still has people that care for her. I'm sure Pete would have no hesitation in volunteering to give her away?"

"I'm sure you're right Doctor," Jake agreed, "But I think she'd prefer it if you did it."

"Me?" He snorted. "She hardly knows me, I don't think-"

"You gave her hope." Jake stopped him. "It helped Martha heal a little, to hold on to the idea that there was someone out there making sure what happened to her didn't tear someone else's family apart. Without that hope I don't think she could have survived. "

The Doctor nodded and murmured around his shake. "I'll take care of it Jake."

Fifteen minutes and two smoothies later Jake and the Doctor were exchanging stories about some of the situations Rose had managed to get herself into when the woman in question turned up with Donna and Martha in tow.

"Should I be worried?" She queried cautiously, her question answered as the Doctor fell off his chair in hysterics. It took a few moments for him to regain his composure. Long enough for the three women to order themselves a cup of coffee and settle themselves around the table.

"So is that about it?" Rose asked sipping her drink carefully as she looked round the table.

"Think so," Donna sighed. "As much as I love a good shop, I have to say I'll be glad once we're done at Tesco's and on our way home."

"Oh right." Rose groaned. "I forgot about food."

"That's not the half of it," Jake grumbled, "You wait till all that crap arrives tomorrow."

They sat in a silent dread as they finished their drinks, watching as the sun receded behind the London landscape. Rose was the first to gather her bags; she really wished that their last store had offered a home delivery service like all the others.

"Right, Tesco's then home yea." She sighed. The others stood and followed her out of the coffee shop and across the road. An hour later Donna called for a car. Their groceries destined for home sometime later in the evening.

Rose had almost forgotten about the load of ex-Torchwood goods coming up from Cardiff and once home had rushed off to let the truck into the underground garage. She appeared half an hour later, thankful that the Doctor had suggested getting another key for the lift cut.

She found him in the kitchen unpacking the seemingly endless bags of groceries and distributing the items to either the pantry or the fridge. She stood grinning at the voluntary display of domestics.

"I know you're there Rose." She could hear the smirk in his voice and laughed softly. He turned around and grinned at her. She helped him unpack the rest and ten minutes later they flopped down together in the middle of the sofa as the last empty bag was finally tossed into the garbage. They sat silently watching the last traces of the afternoon sun disappear on the horizon.

"I'm starving." The Doctor admitted after a loud grumble from his stomach.

"I'm exhausted." Rose breathed before an equally expressive sound emerged from her own stomach.

"Chinese?" Rose asked leaning her head back against the sofa. He nodded before shooting a look at the bathroom door.

"Oh I like the way you think Doctor." She grinned. "I'll phone for dinner." He was already on his feet and snatching one of his bags from the floor near the lift before he disappeared behind the bathroom door.

She shuffled across the lounge and grinned at the sounds of running water and Madam Butterfly emanating from the room as she passed it, chuckling loudly as his voice broke as he approached a particularly high part.

Rose found the majority of the bags she had bought home had made their way into the master bedroom. She sorted through a few of them quickly gathering her toiletries, the bag from the lingerie shop and her brand new pair of pyjamas.

She set the bathtub to fill, dumping an exceptional amount of salts, bubble bath and oils into it while she stripped down. After pulling some towels from her bag she dialled a takeaway not too far away and ordered an assortment of everything, not exactly sure what she felt like, and knowing full well the Doctor would want to try it all. After a few minutes she shut off the faucet and gently slipped into the hot soothing water. She smiled as the song of the baby TARDIS in the next room reached her, humming happily away from her pool to a song Rose had heard in the shops earlier.

The Doctor was busily shampooing his hair when he stopped abruptly mid lather and grinned as the coral reached out to his mind, already attempting to form the bond which would later assist him to pilot. He rinsed his hair and marvelled at human innovation as the water shut off as he stepped out of the cubical. He towelled dry and after throwing on a pair of pyjamas and dressing gown, slipped through Rose's room and out onto the terrace. He ignored the slight stabbing sensation of the quartz and made a mental note to perhaps purchase some sort of slippers for all those occasions that don't require trainers. He crouched down next to pool.

"Hello there." He whispered and its hum brightened and sang to him, making him chuckle.

"Where did you hear that then?" He queried, wondering where it could have picked up the Twelve Days of Christmas, when an image of Rose flashed across his vision.

"Oh." He breathed, ignoring the half naked soaking image of his companion it had shared.

"You're coming along a lot faster than I'd expected." He felt a distinct and indeed very feminine hum that made him chuckle.

"Well what do ya know eh? Rose was right." He sat down rolling his pant legs up, and dipped his legs into the warm water.

This is where Rose found him after she had dressed and gone down to the lobby to collect their dinner. She smiled softly at his back as he sat on the edge of the pool mid techno-babble rant. She stood watching him for a time as he spoke.

"And that is why the answer is quite obviously the chicken, but enough about that for now, dinner is here and our Rose is waiting for me," He glanced across at her leaning in the doorway and gave her a little wave.

He stood up and followed her into the living room, watching as she sorted the little packages of food out onto the Ottoman in front of the sofa, and sat down unsheathing her chop sticks. He noticed her infinitesimal shiver and after a bit of adjusting and a little help from the sonic screwdriver, he lit the fire spreading a gentle glow and warmth throughout the room.

"Mmmm, much betta." Rose grinned around a mouthful of egg roll. She was brilliant his Rose, and right now he wasn't sure if she had ever looked as beautiful as she did sitting cross legged on the floor in a still frightfully pink coloured pair of pyjamas with pandas eating bamboo on them, no make-up, hair messed and still slightly damp with traces of black bean sauce across her chin. He chuckled and sat down as she self consciously wiped a hand across her face.

"What?" She frowned.

"Nothing." He laughed stuffing food into his mouth with a groan of delight.

"Oh my god this is fantastic." He exclaimed shovelling more in. "Rose you should try this." She stuck her chop sticks into the packet in front of him and stuffed it into her own mouth.

"You're right." She grinned then stabbed a spring roll and held it out in front of his face, he took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully.

"Interesting use of ginger there." He nodded happily, eagerly continuing to sample from some of the other boxes.

"I met the ginger you, ya know Doctor." She smirked taking another mouthful.

"Really?" He asked excitedly. "That was a brilliant regeneration, well most of it anyway."

"Definitely a charmer that one." She replied almost dreamily.

"What and this one isn't?" The Doctor snorted gesturing to the length of his torso.

"Yea," She laughed, "But he was different, I don't know how to explain it."

"I nearly didn't regenerate that time," He supplied. "I got shot in San Francisco and they tried to operate on my seventh body, the anaesthetic stunted the process, perhaps that's why he was slightly more psychic than most of my others." He was thoughtful then shrugged proceeding to stuff more food in his mouth. "A near death experience." He wriggled his eyebrows ominously.

"Well that explains a few things then." She laughed reaching into another bag on the floor and pulling out two sodas.

"How's that then?" He enquired, taking a large gulp of his drink.

"Recognised me." She replied. "Well sort of, see he tried to explain it even though he weren't really the right you but he said that the parallels would carry a sor' of residual memory of those in the other universes, apparently I just registered as...I don't remember wha' he called me." She frowned.

"A familiar." The Doctor supplied taking another large scoop of shrimp and rice into his mouth.

"Yea that's it." She grinned. "He helped me to try and narrow down the randomness of the jumps to the twelve closest to wha' he could work out to be sorta like the prime universe. Used my energy signature."

"He was a good man that one, one of the very best." He said seriously.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She began pulling the chain around her neck out from under her singlet and fiddled with the clasp. "He gave me this, to give it to you when we finally caught up." She handed him a small diamond set into a silver pendant. "He said it was important."

"And he was right." The Doctor stared at the gem in his palm. "It's a white point star." He noticed her frown. "It's a very, very precious diamond only found on my home world." She nodded but stayed silent.

"I'd wondered where I'd put this." He mused then glanced up at Rose who stopped sucking in a noodle and stared at the look on his face. "It appears you weren't just jumping universes Rose." She gulped, nearly choking on her meal.

"But how is that even possible?" She whispered.

"I'm not sure how you managed to jump time streams, but you said so yourself, many of the differences were the linear progression of time." He stopped ranting to take another drink of soda. "Tell me about the others."

"Well, one was very stuffy and rude and lectured me about the laws of time," The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Two was a little less abrasive but seemed more interested in his recorder until I mentioned the Brigadier. Ummm, three and four were different to say the very least, oh and love the scarf by the way," She grinned and he beamed at her. "Five I think is another of my favourites, he was wonderfully helpful, met him twice even He remembered me too."

"I met him myself not too long ago, our TARDISes collided and merged together, nearly caused a spot of Belgian bother." He grinned then frowned. "Don't know what I was thinking with the celery though."

"I thought he was wonderful." Rose laughed, nibbling on a bean. "And I heard that the celery was more than just decorative so leave him alone."

"Rose Tyler, defending my dress sense throughout time and space." He teased and copped a fortune cookie to the face for his efforts.

"I refuse to comment on six, partly because I only saw him briefly and really, what we're you thinking?" He shook his head as if pondering the same thing. "Um, seven seemed very gentlemanly but again only met him for a few moments. Met eight as I said already, then met him a second time when he gave me that." She nodded to the diamond still in his right hand. She looked down at her box of Chinese.

"Meeting Nine again was hard, he was travelling alone, never met me it seemed." He could tell that had been heartbreaking for her. And himself too when he thought about it, imagining not having ever met Rose to him was just wrong. Nearly as devastating as him never meeting Donna. She looked up at him, a tear in her eye. "He died saving me from accidentally walking in front of a bus. Refused to regenerate." She laughed ironically. "The oncoming storm collected by an oncoming bus."

He winced but didn't press her about it further. Truth be known he probably would have refused too if he hadn't met her.

"When I finally got back to the right universe, I met Donna just as you picked her up." She laughed. "I was the one she told to tell her mum where her keys were."

"So close." He whispered.

"But so far away, wasn't the right time." She drained her can of drink and stuffed it back into the bag. He nodded, eyes never leaving her face.

"Tried to get a message through to the TARDIS but I must have just missed you." She sighed. "Then the next jump I found you. But I was too late. Donna's parallel had split off."

"Unit and I spent months working to try and sort that out. Had to keep jumping back and forth to convince Donna of what had to be done. I sent so many people to their deaths in that time line Doctor. Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Sarah Jane, Martha, even Donna, but what else could I do without you there to do what you do." They were both silent.

"Funny thing is," Rose laughed humourlessly. "I don't think it was a coincidence that I was trapped here."

"What makes you say that?" The Doctor questioned softly.

"Time moves faster here remember." She replied and he nodded. "You of all people know what it's like to live through something more than once." The Doctor took a sharp intake of air in realisation.

"There were no Time Lords in this universe Doctor." She sighed. "But apparently it deems a companion of one a fair substitute. Its way of compensating was to drop me in the thick of it. Just kept walkin' into trouble."

"Not much has changed then." He teased lightly, glad to see a smile grace her features.

"Shut up you." She scolded playfully. "Thing is, if I hadn't been here, they would have targeted me, and if the universe had split off any sooner, the results would have been catastrophic." He looked away then.

"I knew." Was his quiet response. "Not the specifics but..."

"I thought as much." Rose gave him a small smile and looked back to her half eaten noodles, turning them over in the box before taking a mouthful. She watched him silently pondering while she chewed.

"So many things happened while you were gone Rose, things that," He scratched his head irritably. "Things that I'm ashamed of, and things that if you'd been there and been damaged or lost, would have been the death of me regardless of regeneration." She said nothing as he continued.

"I wanted to die." He admitted. "I was reckless at the best of times, even demanded a Dalek shoot me down, with no regard for Martha what so ever. Travelling with me broke her spirit, her heart, and the year that Never Was nearly killed her family and her." He was breathless. "And then Donna. Did you know that Pompeii was us? Me and Donna? And River Song she sacrificed herself for me." He shook his head disgusted. "And then there was Jenny," His face slipped from disgust to regret and sadness. "She was my daughter Rose, Donna named her because she was a genetic generation from a sample of my DNA, but oh you should have seen her, she was just like you. Blonde and so incredibly smart and beautiful. If Donna had met you before she would have had no doubt who her mother really was." He sat staring into the nothing. "She died." He breathed, mouth opening and closing in disbelieving recollection.

"Jenny's not dead Doctor." Rose interrupted quietly, breaking him out of his previous thought.

"I watched her die Rose, held her in my arms as she bled to death." He ground out bordering on anger.

"That's not what you said." Rose argued, adamant that he was wrong, and a little perturbed he hadn't let her finish.

"And tell me how could I have possibly told you if I-" She glanced down at her meal with a small smile on her lips as finally he caught on.

"Eleven." He breathed. "You said you'd seen Eleven-"

"Yes I did." Her she nodded and her smile widened.

"Jenny's alive!" He exclaimed happily, grinning like a loon.

"Anything else I should know?" He laughed as Rose began cleaning up.

"Well," Rose thought. "There was Jenny, oh and he said River, apparently isn't your wife." She smirked.

"It was merely a joke to rile you up." Rose smiled softly. "Someone had thought it incredibly funny at the time."

"Well that's not very nice, I mean who would do that?" The Doctor murmured irritably.

"Sounds like something Jack would do or-" His mouth slammed shut as he glanced at his companion, eyes widening at his own realisation.

His other self would never have disclosed his name to anyone even the small part of it River had whispered to him, purely because he had no intention of making a permanent bond with anyone, wouldn't have been possible to have the distraction with the weight of so much resting on his shoulder. Not even Rose would have been afforded one had she stayed, and he had loved her.

He would have been limiting his life-span, even if he had bound himself to her in his final regeneration. Besides the bond wouldn't have been possible to begin with, River was human, of that he was sure.

The fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled as their time lines bulged and splintered before his eyes, and his glance followed his companion around the kitchen.

It would appear that it was left to him to assure his past played out as it should. The implications of which astounded him to say the very least. He released a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

"You're quiet." Rose spoke from beside him. He was sure last time he had seen her she was in the kitchen.

"Sorry," He chuckled distractedly, "Must have spaced out." Rose made no response save a snort. He bumped his shoulder against her playfully, letting her know she had his full attention now. She handed him four remotes.

"How do ya suppose these work," She frowned up at him, "Or what they work?"

"Guess we'll just have to try them all." He shrugged. "Or not." He tossed three over the back of the couch and pulled the sonic screwdriver from the inside of his dressing gown.

"One remote to rule them all." He grinned as he soniced the device and pointed it towards the centre of the room, four things happening simultaneously.

A heavy white curtain erupted from the wall to their right and continued moving across the large window in front of them, a decent sized screen dropped from the ceiling and blared to life along with the stereo whose sound appeared to be coming from everywhere at once mixed with the television. Finally a vent opened in the ceiling above them pumping out air which the Doctor noted was at least 18 degrees colder than what was suitable for this time of year. He frowned and pointed the remote at the ceiling, shutting off the air-con, flicked it across his body to the left, ceasing the stereos violating high pitched drivel then back to the TV turning it down to an acceptable level for human consumption.

"Might need some fine tuning." He admitted thoughtfully.

"Should have just stuck with the sonic to begin with." Rose joked leaning her head against his shoulder. His slightly offended reply fell on sleeping deaf ears.


	8. Chapter 8

Appreciate the reviews, much love to you all, Oh and Merry Christmas! :-)

* * *

A few hours later the Doctor awoke, comfortable despite the fact he was on a sofa, with pleasant warmth spread across half his body. Somehow they'd managed to shuffle themselves sideways with Rose draped around his waist, blonde hair splayed across his chest where her head laid resting. He grinned down at his companion, thinking over the revelations of the previous night.

He was puzzled over the diamond, which he still had clutched in his hand, but more specifically over the fact that it was HIS own misplaced star. Logically it made sense for him not to remember should he cause a paradox, but surely if he had hidden the memories he would have initiated a trigger that would allow him to recall such a meeting. He focused back in his memories and was unsurprised to indeed have sections of time missing, all spanning a week at most and during his Fifth and Eighth regenerations. It appeared his assumption was correct, somehow she had managed to travel back, and indeed forwards within his own time line, as well as others.

But why those three in particular? He hadn't lied, Eight had been his more psychic self, perhaps he had glimpsed this particular future, he couldn't be sure. And Five? He had modelled himself on Five and Rose, how did that factor into the equation? And also Rose, who had not questioned Jenny's lineage as if she had already known. Had she met Jenny in his other future? Seen that it was obvious they had taken maternal DNA from that tiny part of her in him? Did she even know about it at all? It was probably best not to try and conceive what could have, did happen, in one of his futures. Besides, he would never become Eleven so it wasn't even worth the time to postulate any such scenarios.

And what of River Song? A joke played by Rose by all his accounts, sometime in their future? This would indicate not only that he was still capable of making a permanent bond, but more importantly implying that Rose was able to support it also which would lead him to muse over her not being entirely human anymore, which was something that to him was impossible. But then if not, how had she been hearing his mind and how, at some point, would he bind them together. Only the bound share what must never be spoken, his name in particular was too dangerous.

With the inclusion of The Face of Boe being in this universe and the new and improved Shadow Proclamation the aforementioned was probably the most troublesome of all the thoughts currently being processed in his overly large Time Lord mind. All pondered in the instant before he reached out and gently brushed a stray lock from his companions face.

"Hello." The Doctor bid her softly, her eye fluttering open at his touch.

"Hmmm," She mumbled with a smile, attempting to burrow herself back into his chest. "What time is it?"

"5.33." He replied, gently extricating his sonic and flashing it at the curtained window which slid back to reveal the pre-dawn horizon. Rose turned her head to face the steadily lightening sky.

"Haven't seen a dawn in ages." Rose spoke softly, voice muffled by the soft, thick material of his dressing gown.

"Well," He grinned down at her, "You shouldn't miss this one, because here it comes, right, about- now." Rose grinned as the sun rose almost at his command.

"That's cheatin you know." Rose chastised. "You think ya so impressive." She earned her self a snort and chuckle which vibrated through him.

"I am so impressive." He grinned as he pulled the sonic from his pocket and jiggery poked life back into the dying embers of the fire.

"How did you do that?" She laughed lifting her head to look up at him.

"What?" He frowned returning his prize possession to his pocket.

"Pull whatever you want from ya pockets?" She exclaimed happily confused.

"Oh," He smiled, "I've linked them. No point having what you need in your other pants pockets."

"More Time Lord science?" She snorted shaking her head, "Have to get you to do that to mine."

"Already did." He grinned. "Whatever's in my pockets you have access to, obviously when the new stuff turns up I'll have to fix them but it's no problem. They're bigger on the inside now too."

"You're so alien." She smiled at him in awe, quickly returning her head to his chest as her cheeks flamed, earning her another delighted chuckle from the Doctor.

"Doctor?" He smiled at her blush before resting his head against the sofa.

"Hmmm?" Came the distracted reply.

"I was thinkin' ." Her fingers absently fiddling with the material under her head.

"Dangerous that." He replied softly.

"Shut up," She chastised half heartedly, "Well, it's just that, ya know, we have two bedrooms, yea, but I don't know, even though there's plenty a room, I thought maybe I, I could share-...with you." She tried to peak up through her hair to gauge his reaction.

He took a deep breath and pretended to mull over her proposal longer than he actually needed to, enjoying her apparent inability to look at him.

"I mean, only If ya want, I just thought that maybe you still don't need as much sleep, and I wouldn't get in your way or anything I just can't, I mean I haven't slept since, well you know- and havin' you here, the dreams don't come ya know-?" She shrugged, still refusing to turn her head, almost hiding in his gown.

"We'll I don't see why not, s'long as you don't snore, besides, it's not like we haven't shared before." He shrugged letting her off, feeling her tension drain slightly as she slapped him on the chest for the snoring remark, "And you're right, I need more sleep than before but only two or three hours every two days should be sufficient."

"How long were we asleep for?" Rose mumbled, "I'm still so tired."

"Four hours, thirty-two minutes and forty-five point eight seconds." He replied, "Even I need a few more hours right now considering I'm technically within the first three days of regeneration and have definitely not had entirely enough sleep for what we've been through."

Rose mumbled her agreement as the Doctor shifted and sat up, collecting her in his arms as he stood and easily, despite his lack of sufficient sleep, manoeuvred them through the still dark room and into the bedroom, gently placing her down on the bed and pulled the duvet over her. He turned away to close the door and pull the curtains only to be stopped by a small hand clutching the arm of his robe, its owner quite obviously delirious.

"Doctor, don't leave me." Rose's small voice pleaded, almost tearing his single heart in two. He placed a lingering kiss on her temple, gently sending her subconscious his reassurance that his absence would only be for a moment. She settled and released her grip allowing him to fix the drapes and door before abandoning his robe and stretching out on top of the duvet, one hand rest behind his head, the other occupying the small space between them.

He glanced over with a smile as her hand entwined itself with his own, wondering briefly if she was in his head again, having realised how lonely his hand felt without hers even though she was only a few inches away. Pond hummed happily in the back of his mind, her telepathic touch strengthened by the two of them joined together. He got the distinct impression that to her, this was how it should be. He smiled at his clever little TARDIS and drifted back to sleep. The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS. _Forever. _

* * *

_The Doctor was running through fire and flame, body after mangled putrefied body, the souls of a billion dead screaming out, deafening and suffocating him as he tried to out run the dark shadow nipping at his heels, his only reprieve an intermittent flash of gold in the distance, beckoning him, calling him, pushing back the darkness just enough for him to remain one step ahead of an unknown fate. He's tired, breathing now has become difficult, once he could easily have gone on almost forever, but not now, not this weak single hearted form he has taken, his reaction time faltering with fatigue and dejection, his mind, heart and body at war with each other, hounding him, berating him, it's almost too much to bare, just enough to let his attention slip and catch a careless foot fall. There is nothing he can do now but fall, the darkness will consume him. He holds his breathe and reaches out to the light in the darkness, dimmer now than he once had thought. It has been decided. He will fall. Resigned to his fate he turns towards the darkness, taking it head on in one final act of defiance. The black swallows him whole. _

_It's dark, and wrong and the silence is deafening, like the silence in his head left by the war. Alone, well he was used to that now, but something had been forgotten that should not have. You are not alone. Where had he heard that before? Perhaps it was merely his synapses firing for the last time. Death, he thought, there were crueller fates. He closed his eyes to receive his punishment only it didn't come. Instead the sounds of thunder and a mournful cry filled the darkness, piercing through him almost to the point of pain. His eyes flicked open, still dark, but the sound surrounded him, it pushed against him, pulled him. In a brilliant explosion of gold, the darkness released its grip sending him hurtling towards the now blinding light he had been running towards, he turned briefly for a glimpse of his saviour and almost fell once more as the wolf snarled and howled at the darkness, forcing it into a retreat. It turned and ran towards him picking up pace as it approached. He didn't need any more persuasion and with the golden creature upon his flank and a renewed determination and vigour they charged towards the light, the wolf sweeping him along faster and faster until he could no longer keep his eyes open, then with a mighty shove of the wolfs head the light was gone and he was standing in a room with a large domed ceiling, a woman he once knew looking at him as if he were a ghost. "Doctor?"_

"Romana!" He cried out, sitting bolt upright, dripping sweat and panting.

His head snapped to the right, his attention caught by the sight of Rose convulsing, chest heaving, gasping for breath, eyes wide open and burning gold.

"Rose?" He shifted to kneel over her, stopped by the dead tight grip she had on his hand.

"No, no, no, no! Rose let it go!" He screamed at her, finally able to prise his hand from her.

"Why were you in my head, how, why did you come after me!" He was frantically running the sonic over her. She was burning, her skin to him feeling almost like it was on fire.

"Rose do you hear me?" He shook her almost violently to no avail.

He pressed his fingers to her temples and kept is grip firm despite the convulsions, unable to let her adjust to his presence gradually, she screamed out to him as he desperately fought his way through her burning mind to rebuild walls he had erected oh so long ago to keep her safe, and calmed her body's reaction. By the time he retreated from her mind as delicately as possible she was sobbing, but the spasms had ceased. The Doctor sagged to his knees on the floor next to the bed, his eyes red and bloodshot, his cheeks tear stained as he looked upon her unconscious face. He gently brushed a cool hand across her damp brow causing her to jerk away slightly. He pulled away from her, running both hands through his hair and down his face with a sigh.

"What have I done?" He whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

The rain pelted down on the old glass windows of what had now become the infirmary. Up on the second floor next to the library, it's walls were a pale orange, not that dissimilar to the organics of the TARDIS and the smell of wood and old books wafted in from time to time. Pete Tyler stood wearily against the open door alternating between watching the Doctor, who had paced himself to the point of exhaustion an hour ago and finally succumbed to sleep in a large chair in the corner, and his daughter. Rose. The room eerily silent save for the only sounds assuring him she was still alive. Rose lay hooked to monitors and drips, the only things the Doctor assured him would help keep her stable. It had been 8 hours since he had received the call and returned to London, assuring Jackie that he would take care of it and that she and Tony should stay in Barbados and enjoy the sunshine. Jackie Tyler would not have that and within minutes of finding out just why Pete had to return, she promptly slapped him and packed herself and her son up and put them all on a zeppelin home.

A small tap on his shoulder alerted him to his wife's presence, grateful for the steaming mug of tea she pressed into his hand.

"Tony's playing with Donna downstairs."Pete nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Any change?"

"Nothing." Pete sighed.

"Well, at least himself there's finally stopped wearing a whole in the floor." Jackie moved to place a small throw over the Doctor. His sleep was restless, his brow furrowed and teeth grit tightly together as he dreamt.

"Jacks," Pete whispered from Rose's bedside. She was almost hesitant to leave him but moved to Pete's side.

"I can't quite make out what she's saying," He bent his ear down next to Rose's lips, Jackie followed suit, her eyes still on the Doctor. She frowned.

"It's the same as him." She urged Pete to listen again as she had, facing the Doctor with his right ear to Rose.

"But that's impossible." Pete frowned and Jackie snorted.

"Was she mumblin' before?" Jackie asked moving back towards the Doctor.

"Nah," Pete replied, "Only just now."

Jackie watched the Doctor's fists clench and his chest heave, a sheen of sweat breaking out across his forehead, stream after stream of what sounded to Jackie like an incomprehensible melodic lullaby, followed by an almost imperceptible scream.

"Jacks!" Pete cried out, desperately checking over the machines attached to his daughter. "She's getting worse."

"Mela!" The Doctor began to yell. "Manke ier lle, where are you!"

Rose began to convulse once more, her body thrashing and lifting off the gurney as if possessed. The machines screaming out at them, along with Rose. It was Jackie who drew the connection first.

"It's him!" She cried out over the machines at Pete who followed her vision back to the Doctor. "He's doing this to her!"

"Don't be ridiculous Jacks he's all the way over there! Help me hold her!"

"He's still an alien! Doctor!" She yelled across the room while she tried to help Pete hold Rose down.

"Doctor, you wake up right now!" She was crying in earnest now. "Rose needs you please stop this!"

The Doctors eyes shot open and he was at her side in seconds, gently pressing his fingers to her temples, calming the fire inside her mind and easing the tension in her muscles until her body lay calm, with a significant rush of endorphins the monitors were back to a steady beeping. He slumped down in the chair next to the bed exhausted.

"What's wrong with her Doctor?" He didn't look up as Jackie sobbed.

"I don't know Jackie." He began, looking away from her.

"Don't give me that, I wasn't born yesterday!" She started. "You had a nightmare and she almost died! So don't give me that 'I don't know' bull crap 'cause I ain't buying any of it."

"I don't know what to tell you Jac-" He drew a pale hand down his face, he couldn't tell her the truth.

"Just how alien are you that you're inside her head, I'm not stupid Doctor, Rose told me you could read minds!"

"I beg your pardon." He replied looking up at her in disbelief.

"Jacks that's enough." Pete placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to reign her in.

"You flounce around the place like a great big know it all," She didn't even take a breath as the Doctor rose to his full height, fury clearly evident in his weary ancient eyes. "but when it comes to my daughter, the woman you love, you have no idea what's wrong with her! You're supposed to know everything Doctor, 900 plus years-"

"I've tried-"

"Then try harder!" She countered angrily.

"What would you have me do Jackie, I have no TARDIS, no equipment worth a damn and we're stuck millions of light years and centuries away from anything and anyone that could possibly help-"

"You're the Doctor, there has to be somethin-" She spat.

"She's dying Jackie!" He bellowed and her mouth snapped shut. She turned away from him taking the seat opposite so she could hold the hand of her daughter not covered in needles and tubes, and stared down at her unconscious form.

"No," She breathed, "Please no, not after everything we've been through."

"Coiasira ohta Doctor." Jackie and Pete almost missed the small whisper even in the relative silence of the infirmary.

"Kaima sii' Mela," He spoke softly, gently brushing damp locks of blond from her face.

"What is it," Jackie sniffed, eyes flicking from Rose to the Doctors pale features as he sat down and took her other hand. "What's she saying Doctor, please. I need to know?"

He regarded her seriously for a moment and waited as Pete pulled over another chair and sat down next to his wife.

"Coiasira ohta," He breathed. "In the language of my people, means war, time war specifically."

"Your people?" Pete frowned. "She's speaking another language?"

"Yes, a very old dialect," The Doctor continued, "So old it was practically extinct. Well, is extinct now."

"So you taught her then or what?" Jackie asked, looking down at her daughter.

"No," He shook his head sadly, "She's trapped Jackie."

"How is that possible, she's right here?" Jackie sniffed gesturing to the body in front of them.

"Her body's here, yes," His eyes never leaving her face, "But her mind is trapped in a place I cannot bring her back from."

"Where." She replied gently stroking the back of Rose's hand.

"The Time War." He breathed, eyes falling to his lap.

"How did this happen?" Pete asked, concern and confusion written across his aging features.

"But you said she ended it," Jackie countered, "When Mickey and I helped her get that damn ship of yours open."

"Wait a minute," Pete stopped them, "What exactly is a Time War?"

"Not just a Time War Pete, the last great Time War," The Doctor answered him sombrely, "A mighty battle fought across the multiverse, through endless galaxies and time, against an enemy you know all too well."

"The daleks." Jackie breathed remembering the stories Rose had once told her.

"We lost." The Doctor continued. "The only way to save the rest of the universe, was to destroy everything, the Daleks, Skaro, Gal-" His lips sealed of their own accord, he would not speak its name aloud, "My home, my family, all gone and so many more."

"But why Rose, why now." Pete failed to understand how something that had already happened could be affecting them so in the here and now.

"Because she cares too much for her own good." His eyes averting away from Jackie and Pete, "Cares too much for me."

"How is that even releva-" Jackie countered in her daughters defence.

"She opened the heart of the TARDIS," He was becoming short, "The entirety of time and space, all at once, she saw it all, and for a brief time controlled it all. She became time incarnate, the goddess herself." He recalled the Gamestation with vivid clarity, how terrified he was that in saving him, she would kill herself.

"The vortex is still a part of her, dormant in her mind, sealed off with every barrier my people were capable of creating." He stressed. "Even now it's taking up a significant part of my own telepathy to keep the walls up."

"So I was right," Jackie frowned. "You are in her head."

"Yes." He whispered, he wasn't going to mention the help he was also getting from the baby TARDIS. "If I wasn't she'd already be dead."

"But I still don't understand." Pete scratched at his balding head impatiently. "She was fine two days ago. What's happened in the last 24 hours to bring this on?"

"I was dreaming." He breathed, his tone conveying his hopelessness. "Unfortunately though, when a Time Lord dreams, it's a lot more complicated.

"Explain it to me Doctor." Pete urged. "I thought you were human now?"

"What I am," He paused slightly. "Is what you would call humanoid, different only from the original Doctor in regards to physiology, only one heart here, but identical in brain chemistry and make up." There was silence as he carried on.

"A human body could not support a Time Lord brain." He admitted, avoiding Jackie's glance.

"But Donna-" She began.

"Would have had her memories wiped of me, him, the TARDIS, all of you and all our adventures." He left the matter with no opening for objections. "She would have died otherwise."

"But how is it happening to Rose?" Jackie questioned. "She isn't like you. Is she?"

"No," He replied, "But she'd spent enough time on the TARDIS with her in her mind to become a little more aware and accustomed to a telepathic link, that's how she can still translate other languages. And travelling through the void from universe to universe, meeting me specifically, in almost every regeneration only strengthened the bond between us."

"All it took was her holding my hand," He sighed deeply, "And she slipped right in."

"But it was only a dream, you said so yourself." Pete exclaimed. "How can she-"

"I'm not human Pete," He snapped. "I'm apart of time, biologically linked to it no matter what form I choose to take." He stood and began a frustrated pacing.

"When I dream, I relive it, connected to the vortex and every point in time and space," He ran a hand through his hair viciously, "That's the thing about a time war, it's everywhere even now. It's already happened for me, but right now above our heads this universe is screaming out. And so is she. So loud it's almost deafening me. It's killing me."

"How can we stop this?" Pete was at his wits end, watching as the Doctor covered his ears with his hands for a moment and flopped back into his chair. "Is there anything we can do, at all?"

"Not even with a fully functional TARDIS." He shook his head despondently. "What she needs no longer exists."

"What Doctor?" Jackie whispered between sobs as she stroked her daughter's hair.

His eyes lifted from the floor and Jackie was sure she could see galaxies spiralling in his dejected gaze.

"She needs the Time Lords."

_How could this be allowed to happen, she thought, why has this come to pass?_

_This is not how it is supposed to be, why couldn't he see it, how could he just let her die. How could they just let them die._

_She cries out in anguish to her mother on the other side of the void to no avail._

_If she would not hear her pleas, then she would find someone who would._

_She screamed through the universe, her voice only small but that tiny spark inside her_

_Ever growing through time and space and she cried with all her might, to her kin and those bound to them where ever they may be._

_Please come, please save us._


	10. Chapter 10

It was just another ordinary day; the two of them stood looking out atop a cliff over a magnificent purple ocean. Rose frowned, her hand deep inside her pockets.

"How come I can't get the sonic?" She glanced up towards him for an explanation. He was a little surprised by the random nature of the question he snorted laughter in response.

"That's because it's genetically modulated, here give me your hand." He pulled the screwdriver out and fiddled with it before running it across her palm and returning it to his pocket. "Now try."

"Aha!" She grinned up at him as she pulled it out of her hoodie. "That's brilliant, I love it."

"I can teach you some if you want?" He smiled, caught up in her joy at such a small feat.

"Isn't it like, illegal to share that sorta' science or somethin'?" She smirked placing her prize back in her pocket.

"Probably," He snorted. "But who's gonna tell on me hmmm."

"Yea," She breathed as she followed his gaze back out across the ocean.

"Will you tell me about them one day?" She looked up at him seriously and he took her hand.

"One day." He nodded eyes unmoving from the scene before them.

"It's beautiful here." She breathed. "Where are we again?"

"This is your dream, Rose," he sighed glancing warily down at her now confused expression.

"How can I be dreaming of a place I've never been to?" She turned towards him, reaching a hand out to press against his chest, testing if he was real to the touch despite the hand held in her own. She was relieved to find the steady thump of a single heart beat under her palm.

"Are you really here?" She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Inside my head yea?"

"If I said yes, would you be upset?" He queried raising an eyebrow, gently pushing a strand of hair from her face.

"No," She decided quickly, "I trust you."

"Just, some things yea," she stuttered a bit to his amusement. "You probably shouldn't you know...see, um."

"I promise I won't look," He laughed. "Just as long as you promise not to go about my memories hmmm."

"Oh," she breathed looking back around them, "This is from your-"

"Mmhmm." He nodded, his features caught somewhere between fear, love and admiration.

"How is this possible?" She shook her head. "I'm not psychic like you or anything."

"It's telepathy, Rose Tyler did you pay no attention when you were with me?" Came a distinct Northern accent from behind them.

"Now I know I'm dreaming." She closed her eyes, clutching tighter to the Doctor's hand.

"It's not really dreaming you know?" Her head snapped around at the sound of his voice, "Much more similar to the Earth version of astral projection, well sort of." A green velvet clad Doctor added.

"How can you be here I, I helped- I watched you-" She was shaking her head, putting more distance between herself and Eight by stepping behind the Doctor still clutching her hand. Overhead the once effervescent blue sky turned a fiery red as black storm clouds, dark and angry exploded with lightening and the ground below them began to shake. His eyes went wide as he caught the thought she couldn't voice aloud even in her own mind. He shushed her gently, turning to cup her cheek, eyes closing tightly as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"Now is not the time," he whispered softly, as her mouth opened and closed mutely. "His time stream hasn't reached that point yet, you can't-, you can't tell me anything alright."She nodded and he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, trying to hold back the storm, feeling the presence of his other selves helping hold them all together, holding her mind together and theirs with her. He turned his attention to the other Doctors, noticing now the arrival of his fifth self.

"What in the name of Rassilon is going on here?" They looked to each other for an explanation.

"We're dying," Came a voice from behind Rose, the four doctors turning to acknowledge another version. "And so is she."

Rose turned to the same ghostly image she had said goodbye to almost a lifetime ago.

"What have you been muckin' about with," Nine snapped at himself.

"Clearly I survive the daleks again only to turn into moron." Nine glared at himself.

"Me?" The holographic Doctor took offense at his tone. "Oh that's rich coming from you."

"I just sent her back home to her mother and Mickey," Nine gestured to Rose.

"Oh and I supposed you asked her what she wanted first?" Ten snapped in retaliation.

"She was safe, where she belonged."Nine countered rounding the holographic version of himself as if it would come to a brawl.

"_She belongs with us."_ He spoke into his former self's mind.

"Stop it," Rose challenged, "Don't yell at him, I don't recall you asking me what I wanted either."

"Biological Metacrisis?" Five piped up with as he flit in towards the other Doctor for a closer look at himself.

"Do you mind?" Rose's Doctor raised an eyebrow at his Fifth self as he poked at his arm as if testing his consistency, almost completely oblivious to the ongoing argument of this two future selves.

"Sorry old boy," Five chuckled, "But you're something alright, how are you even possible? Human body? No it wouldn't support the brain, oh-, oh- I see, well- that is interesting."

"Have you all forgotten why we're here?" Eight snapped, interrupting Ten as he opened his mouth to speak, he was quite perplexed at why the woman in front of him felt so familiar to him despite never having met her until now.

"Why are we here?" Five questioned losing interest in his future metacrisis form.

"Because the pretty boys a moron." Nine turned to address both Ten's.

"Oi," They snapped in union.

"Alright, let's just calm down, I'm giving myself a headache. How about we start with who the devil is she?" Five bristled uncomfortably, only now paying attention to the three of his future selves current proximity and body language towards said woman, not to mention the fact he had not let go of her hand, which he found quite scandalous. And to be in one's mind as she was, to walk backwards and forwards unchecked.

"Oh you're such an old prude," Eight sighed, disappointed.

"We have rules," Five countered. "And for good reason too."

"Please stop," Rose's small voice pleaded, the sounds of their unrest and bickering making her feel claustrophobic, she clutched at the Doctors hand for support, the storm threatening to return.

"Oh please," Nine quipped, "Since when did we ever follow the rules."

"Enough." Ten bellowed steadying Rose. "This is getting us nowhere."

"How did this happen," Rose asked quietly, looking seriously in the faces of the Doctors around her. "Why is this happening?"

"You're trapped in time Rose," Ten stressed as delicately as possible, "Trapped in our past, our present and our future, our fate is tied to you, all of us, every incarnation, but these ones in particular, whatever happened, or will happen is pulling us out of time, we're flying blind and we need to know why, and how to stop it."

"You know how to stop this," Five added warily, the mere idea of physically expelling her from his mind sending a shudder through all the Doctors at once, including himself which he found odd.

"How dare you even suggest it." Nine snapped, his body moving of its own volition to barrier Rose against his former self.

"Stop this," Ten demanded shimmering slightly in annoyance, "He couldn't do it anymore than you or I could."

"How can we do anything when we haven't the faintest idea of where to start," Five gestured wildly. "We can't take her home either, the others wouldn't allow it, she's human."

"The others." Rose sucked in a breath, chancing at look around her catching despair flicker in three sets of eyes.

"They'll take her memory and dump her back on Earth." Eight shook his head and frowned, "We cannot allow that."

Despite herself she asked the question. "Why would they do that?"

"Because we're Time Lord," Eight replied sincerely from beside her. "No human being can look into our mind and live to tell the tale."

"Oh." Rose breathed swaying almost off balance again. The solid hand of Ten returning her attention to his counterpart. He reached out his hand to her, slowly and gently offering her his open palm.

"She's getting worse," Ten pleaded as his image became a little more opaque.

"Please," He offered, "Let me see?"

She took a cautious glance up at Ten and then at his twin who nodded, a small encouraging smile gracing his lips. "I always was a little more psychic in that form. Let him try."

"But-"

"I only see what I need to," Eight whispered sensing her hesitation could possibly be her knowledge of his future. "It will be alright."

She let go of Ten's hand reluctantly and took a step forward closing the gap between them, slowly reaching out her hand, eyes unmoving from his, the same eye's she could quite happily fall into, younger than the ones she knows, but still him.

"Do you trust me, Rose Tyler?" Eight breathed, mere millimetres separating them.

"Always." She whispered as she laced her fingers through his and the world exploded into a million tiny sparks.

* * *

"Of course," Eight breathed as he floated back to their almost reality, a small smile on his lips. "It's so simple."

"Rose!" Ten cried as Eight caught her small frame with ease and lifted her into his arms.

"Shhh," He cooed gently placing a kiss to her forehead, "It's alright you can rest now."

"What's going on!" Ten snapped, resisting the urge to snatch her out of his arms.

"She's dying you moron what do we do!" Nine growled. Eight merely waved him off.

"No she's not," Eight tutted, "And neither are we."

"What?" The holographic Doctor stopped, faced primed for a rampant dressing down of his previous form, face now contorted in complete and utter confusion.

"Well that is good to know." Five added stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Still though, there is that problem of her brain exploding and taking out not only us but the entire universe. By the way, which one are we in anyways?"

"Pete's," Ten muttered distractedly, brushing a stray lock from her forehead. "Does it really matter?"

"When you two are quite done," Nine quipped impatiently, eyes not leaving her pale features, "Will she be alright?"

"She will be when we all get out of her head." He grinned at them.

"We didn't cause this," Holographic Ten began.

"No, you're quite right." Eight agreed relinquishing his hold on Rose to Ten, smiling when she appeared to snuggle infinitesimally closer into his chest.

"Then who?" Nine asked, refusing to move away even to give her some space. They all stared as Eights eyes flicked from Rose back to Ten.

"You were quite right when you said she cared for us a little too much," He chuckled, "And quite the understatement too."

"What do you mean?" Five questioned, now also unable to be more than a few feet from Rose's body.

"You know you got about five seconds until I wipe that smug grin off your cryptic little mouth." Nine warned.

"She's our mate you half-wit." Eight quipped, taking delight at the shock currently plastered on his other three regenerations, well aware he just insulted himself, but really he was becoming dense in his old age.

"Or will be at some point." He added.

"That's impossible," Five countered, "She's human. Even for you that's impossible" He referred the last to the metacrisis.

"Apparently not," Eight stated calmly, "She's been quite busy you know. Sought us all out even if she didn't do it knowingly."

"The dimension cannon," Ten frowned looking up at his duplicate, "How didn't we see this?"

"Oh much more than just the meddlesome works of Torchwood are behind this," He took a long breath recalling what he had seen and apparently coming as quite a shock, "She had help."

"Who?" Nine questioned suspiciously.

"The eternals have played their hand in this turn of fates." He murmured his vision lost on something none of them could see but him.

"The Eternals," Ten frowned questioning Nine, knowing full well that they had retreated from the universe in the wake of the Time War, "They've returned?"

"And another. No not another, _The _Other." Eight whispered, his jaw snapped shut his eyes darting to his metacrisis brother.

"_It's you." _He shot mentally.

"That's impossible." He denied, wide eyed in shock.

"So is she," Eight replied glancing down at his future wife cradled in his future's arms, "I have seen her save us from ourselves, swallow time, return again and again despite us sending her away, you should be able to remember it now, in every regeneration, just when we've needed her, we were never alone, will never be alone because she's always been there for us, will always be, she's apart of us, just as much as we're apart of each other, because she was made for us, because we need her and most importantly, because we love her because she's just her and she is ours."

"Do not despair," Eight smiled at his holographic form, sadness etched into his features, "Once you return and the time line has snapped back into place things will be different I promise. You will remember. As we all will when the time comes."

"And yes," Eight smiled lovingly down at her, catching Ten's self deprecating thought, "She seems to think we are worthy of love, despite what we haven't, might and will do."

"She's been waiting a very long time for us," Eight smiled. "And we've been waiting an eternity for her." He flipped his mop of almost ginger hair back out of his face. "You were right, she does need the Time Lords, and we're right here, we're all she's ever needed."

"This has to come from you to filter back through the schism," Eight instructed Ten holding her, "You do remember how to form a bond yes?"

"Please I wasn't born yesterday," He raised an eyebrow at his former self who held up his hands in mock surrender.

"I never meant to imply anything of the sort," He assured himself, "Obviously it won't be a full coupling until some undetermined time in the future." He continued despite Ten's glare.

"But, a permanent telepathic link will help close the schism our splintered timelines have created, yours especially," He nodded at the holographic Ten, "The metacrisis was always meant to happen, she saw to that when she became the wolf. She would have found Ten on the first jump had Five not created a Belgium, this means she defaulted to him first, hence his presence here, Nine, who returned twice for her at her own instruction to do so, sacrificed his life for hers, leaving behind a permanent marker in her DNA of his own which helped create who he became, a genetic marker, I might add, which she unknowingly placed in all of us when we met, the little minx, but I'd never kiss and tell." He was sure he heard Nine growl. Around them their surroundings began to swirl and twist, the wind of the storm howled getting stronger and stronger with every pass threatening to drag them away.

"Place your hands on her," He shouted over the now almost deafening sound of the wind, lightening crashed overhead and rain poured down on them. Eights eyes snapped to Ten, his fingers poised ready by her temples.

"And finally," He breathed staring into Ten's knowing eyes, "Me. May I make the right choice when the time comes, and may she be there to soften the blow." He placed his hand over his counterparts as Ten raced through her mind, to the centre of her essence and bound himself around her soul, everything that he was, the Doctor, the name he was too scared to reclaim, the destroyer of worlds, the oncoming storm, he bound them all to the fate of the Bad Wolf.

His eyes flicked around at himself, and in an exchange of the minds happening in a fraction of a second they knew it was done, and then there was nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

Rose's immediate thought when she finally regained consciousness, was that it appeared to be raining. She liked it when it rained she decided and watched fascinated as a faint silver thread danced across her closed eyelids in time with the droplets against the glass, swirling into an impossible maelstrom of stars. There was something familiar about it, something, she thought, she should probably remember. It was then that she took stock of her current state. All limbs felt present and accounted for, she was warm and comfortable save for the dull ache in her hand, she tensed it experimentally. A drip, she surmised. Something had happened, the specifics hazy. She opened one eye slowly testing the level of light, pleasantly surprised to find a warm glow cast over the room from embers in the fireplace and an old lamp upon a dresser illuminating a still steaming mug of tea. A small clock on the mantle informed her it was five minutes past four in the morning. Her eyes drifted from the fireplace to the ornate double doors, immediately realising where she was upon seeing the old worn out book cases of the library. They reminded her of the old TARDIS, she smiled at the gentle hum from the back of her mind and breathed in the smell of old leather and parchment as it drifted though the room mixed with the scent of the fire, and something else she couldn't quite define yet knew as achingly familiar.

And then she saw him. Long brown pinstriped legs stretched out upon the desktop to hold himself mid swing, his head propped up with one hand and glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose, long forgotten book threatening to fall from his lap. The fire cast an exquisite glow upon his face making him appear both younger and incredibly more ancient all at once. Oh how she had missed his face, his smell. She breathed deeply once more, her eyes slipping closed as a warmth washed through her almost as if it was wrapping her in a fluffy blanket, tiny silver flecks swirling dreamily just behind her eyes. It was strange, she thought, but comforting and wonderful.

"_You scared the hell out of me Rose Tyler." _Her eyes remained closed as his voice echoed softly through her mind.

"_I didn't mean to" _She replied, gasping as a myriad of images and memories exploded across her vision. She cringed slightly at the onslaught but a silver thread reined them in, twisting and bending them until they flowed into something she could comprehend.

"_How much do you remember?" _He asked cautiously.

"_Everything." _Her mind whispered quietly in response.

"_I had hoped you would," _He replied steadily,_ "Your mind has stabilised, which is good. No end of the world for now. It'll take some getting used to though, but you appear to have grasped the general idea of how this works."_

"_It is permanent though yea?" _She asked hesitantly.

"_For now, yes." _She felt his consternation, getting the undeniable feeling that if he wasn't sitting down he'd pacing and mussing his hair in frustration.

"_What you did Rose, as flattering as it is, was so incredibly dangerous." _He flared mauve in her mind._ "You almost destroyed this universe, several more in fact, to make it even possible."_

"_I know, like I said I didn't mean to," _She'd countered, refusing though to be even a little sorry that this connection with him had been the result,_ "I don't even remember half of it."_

"_One would think that I wasn't so forgettable that you wouldn't remember sharing a basic genetic transfer."_

"_A what?" Her face screwed up in confusion. _

"_A kiss Rose." He flared red in her mind, she could feel his fury "You bound yourself to my incarnations with a kiss."Her head snapped back and she groaned in pain as she felt him almost pull back from her mind entirely and her heart clenched. _

"No don't, Doctor!" She cried sitting up abruptly, stopped only by a small weight on her stomach.

Her eyes flickered between the small boy in her lap and the Doctor still seated in the dark of the library, eyes wide open. Regret and remorse written clearly in his eyes and flooding her senses. She knew he hadn't meant it and breathed a sigh of relief as silver pulsed gently back through her mind, soothing it and calming her heart as it beat at a million miles a minute.

"Rose?" Jackie whispered voice laced heavily with exhaustion, she appeared from behind the blond mop of hair that was her son. "Oh Rose you're awake." She watched her mother move towards the hallway and call out to her husband.

"Pete," She called, eyes not leaving Rose, "Pete come quick, she's awake."

"Wose?" The tiny boy blinked up at his sister, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Hello Tony." She smiled, tussling his hair.

"Wose I missed you," He sniffed clutching at her tightly through the blankets. "Pwomise to never leave again."

"I'm sorry I scared you little one." She shushed as Jackie returned to the room with a relieved looking Pete in tow.

"God love you gave us a fright." He chuckled kneeling down onto the bed next to her to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Here," Jackie fussed pouring water from a small decanter on the bedside table into a glass and gingerly passing it to her daughter, unknowingly blocking her view of the Doctor. "Drink this, you must be parched."

"Thanks Mum." She sighed becoming agitated at not being able to see him. She accepted the water gratefully though, downing it in one mouthful. "How long have I been out for?"

"Three days." Pete replied pulling Tony into his lap much to his protests.

"How do you feel love?" Jackie patted her hand gently making sure to avoid the cannula's still pumping fluid into her. She pulled herself up the bed to rest against the headboard.

"Bit stiff'." She admitted, mentally assessing if she was in any other pain despite the tenderness caused by spending three days in the same spot.

"I'm not in pain if that's what you're askin?" Jackie couldn't hold it in any longer; Rose reached out and pulled her into an embrace holding her until her tears subsided.

"It's alright Mum really I'm fine now." Rose promised, glancing at Pete and her brother in his arms. "I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't intend to I promise you." The last directed towards the Doctor.

"I know love." Jackie sniffed patting her hand lovingly. "The Doctor told us what happened."

"Oh," Rose nodded blinking awkwardly and looking anywhere but at her mother, "Of course he-"

"You were dying sweetheart, "Jackie squeezed her daughters hand gently. "Said you'd become caught in time, oh love he was terrified, didn't know what to do, said you needed help from his people, Rose, I've never seen him like that."

She silently thanked him for not elaborating on anything to her mother, she attempted to mentally glare at the amusement that bubbled back through their link.

"Donna said Mummy yelled at Dokta." Tony's small voice emanated from his father's lap. "You shouldn't yell at him you know, he's magic, Donna told me stories, about how he saved Wose from the monsters."

"Oh shush you," Jackie tutted her son, his now almost complete grasp on the English language continuing to amaze her.

"Come on Tony," Pete stood and smiled, holding out his arms to his son. "You can see Rose in the morning. It's time for bed."

"No I wanna stay." His argument cut short by an enormous yawn.

"I know you do," Pete chuckled, "But Rose needs her rest and she can't very well have it with you taking up all of her bed hmmm?"

"I guess," Tony agreed, much too tired to argue "Night Wose." Tony muttered softly, head lulling on his father's shoulders, he giggled as the Doctor winked at him, holding a finger to his lips.

"Goodnight Tony." Rose called as they left the room, he was so adorable. Jackie resumed her seat beside the bed.

"So," Rose began, "Must have been one hell of a row for Donna to-"

"It was a misunderstanding alright," Jackie stopped her short. "I was scared and he wouldn't tell me what was wrong and I took out my frustration on him." Rose reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I didn't mean to." Jackie fiddled with a tissue in her lap. "It just shook me to the very core you know. He's the Doctor, he's supposed to know all the answers Rose and I lashed out and I'm sorry. I should have never doubted him."

"I'm sure he knows that Mum," Rose smiled.

"He never left your side not once. Even after the fever broke and the seizures stopped, every minute of the last three days he's been no more than a few feet away, always watching, the slightest sound and he was there. I've still never met anyone quite like him."

"Unfortunately," Rose replied sadly. "I'm sure you never will."

"I know." Jackie breathed. "But he's got us now. A family. A home."

"I'm sure he knows that too." Rose assured her. "And as for knowing everything, well, if the Doctor knew everything then where's the fun in that."

"You're both mad, you know that don't you." Jackie shook her head chuckling. She smiled wearily up at her husband in the doorway.

"Why don't you go get some sleep," Rose nodded towards Pete. "It'll be light soon yea."

"Besides the Doctor's awake." She spoke softly, glancing over at him now leaning against a book case. "He can keep an eye on me. Go get some rest yea."

Jackie was hesitant to leave, but sheer exhaustion and her daughter's assurances forced her hand and she nodded.

"Goodnight then sweetheart." Jackie pressed a kiss to Rose's head and reluctantly allowed  
Pete to guide her from the room. She stopped as they approached the door, turning her voice softly in the Doctor's direction. "Thank you." She whispered receiving a small nod in response. And they were gone, a soft click from down the hall signalling their retirement for what was left of the dark hours of the morning.

She sighed, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. When she opened her eyes to find him still hiding in the shadows she patted the space on the bed next to her, shifting over so he could fit. Slowly he approached her, flicking off the lamp and machines as he went before gently taking her hand and removing the IV cannula's, smoothing over the red, irritated marks they left in her skin with his soft fingertips. He sat down in the space she made for him and pulled her suddenly but gently into his lap.

"What happened before," Rose whispered leaning back into him, "I felt you slip away and for one horrifying moment it hurt so badly I- I couldn't breathe."

"I know," He breathed into her hair holding her tighter against his chest, "I didn't mean to."

"It felt like I was dying, like my heart was gonna tear out my chest." She breathed and clasped his hand, bringing it up against her cheek, almost nuzzling against it.

"Trust me," He gently rubbed his knuckles up the length of her exposed arm. "A perpetual bond and what I did would have killed us both."

"_Please never do it again?" _She pleaded in his mind.

"I promise, never again." He pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Can you hear me?" She asked softly. "All the time I mean?"

"I always could," He admitted, head falling back onto the wood of the bed frame with a thud. "At first only when we touched, it was hard sometimes though, to ignore it when your mind was screaming out at me even if you didn't realise it. Eventually I just naturally became attuned to certain thing."

"Like what?" She murmured, more than a little curious.

"Oh boring things like vitals you know, heart, blood pressure and the like," He breathed. "I knew though, every time you had a nightmare, every time you'd cried over Mickey or worse because of -"

"Me and Mickey were over a long time ago," She assured him. "And never on the TARDIS, once I went with you I never, well, you know-" She murmured, a gentle blush creeping across the top of her ear.

"No," He nodded, lip turning up slightly, "I know you didn't. Most of your time was spent with me anyways."

"Hold on though," She frowned, "how did you know I didn't, not even with Jack?" She lifted her head to look up at the side of his face suspiciously.

"You humans ooze pheromones," He shrugged noncommittally. "If anyone had done anything I would have known, more senses than your species, not to mention the TARDIS would have alerted me, couldn't risk conception mid flight, the chances of genetic mutations due to Huon particles would've been highly likely."

"Was definitely no chance of that happenin then," Rose mumbled recalling some of the most frustrating times in her life, "No one even tried to make a move on me, not even Jack for all his flirting."

"Wouldn't have mattered if he did," He sniffed, "Time Lord genes are dominant, my ship, my rules. Jack and Mickey wouldn't have been able to have done anything even if they'd had enough of a nerve to try it."

"Cause you would've launch them out an airlock?" She snorted, recalling his Captain envy as she like to refer to his brooding as. She lightly traced the outline of his fingers with her own.

"Well there was that," He mused, choosing to ignore her thoughts, "But it wouldn't have been necessary, I render them all practically useless."

"Oh watch that ego Doctor," She grinned, tongue between her teeth in an expression he hadn't seen in such a very long time, "There'll be no room left for me."

"Hmm, cheeky," He smiled indulgently, "But you forget Rose, I remember all those times we met before I found you in that basement." She blushed and tried to hide it in his shirt collar.

"Don't know what you mean." She stuttered feigning ignorance.

"You kissed me," His expression, she thought, was the very epitome of smug. "A lot of me in fact." His eyebrow rose suspiciously. "I think you may have developed quite a fetish."

"You, Rose Tyler have a severe case of Doctor related obsession." She snorted and he nodded seriously.

"How could I not though," She pressed her face back into his shirt, breathing him in. "They were all you."

"Indeed they were," He agreed, "However my point is still valid, you Rose Tyler, are the only one to blame for your lack of action, as you referred to it, aboard the TARDIS."

"You what?" She spluttered.

"You heard." He grinned waggling his eyebrows.

"I wasn't the one who left my genetic imprint and manipulated by biodata across time and space," He continued, "As soon as we met, my biological imperative, unknowingly to me I might add, recognised you, and despite me not actually being allowed to remember until this point," He held up his finger to silence her until he was finished. "Rendered any and all other males of any species ineffectual."

"You could have said something ya know." She slapped him in the arm, her mouth agape in disbelief.

"Like what?" He snorted helping her shift around on his lap so she was almost face to face with him, despite her inability to meet his eyes.

"I don't know?" She dropped her head into her hands. "Argh you're so infuriating sometimes. And, and all that flirting you, god, you drive me mad-" His laughed echoes through both rooms at that, slipping sideways down the headboard in hysterics.

"You could have offered to help ya know." She grabbed a pillow and swung it at his head.

"Oh from what I remember you were doing quite well on your own." He challenged, eyes dancing with mirth.

"Damn you Alien git." She squealed as she retracted her arm for another swing at his head only to be reefed up off the bed in one smooth motion and placed over his shoulder.

"Alien git I may be" Came the smug reply over his shoulder, "But I recall no damning. Other things yes."

"Oh my god," She screeched, one hand gripping tight to the back of his jacket, the other attempting to cover the now deep crimson colour of her face, "How do you even know about that."

"I'm not blind or stupid for one." He threw back over at her.

"No it would appear just stubborn and enjoy causing me great frustration." She mumbled.

"Plus like I said humans emit pheromones," Ignoring her muffled comment even though he heard it quite clearly, "And you Rose Tyler, more so than anyone else, all those raging hormones and such," He spun round experimentally eliciting a small squeak from her. "Besides, what did you think would happen in a ship that shares a telepathic link with her pilot."

"I think I'm going to die of embarrassment that's what." She groaned.

"Oh come on," He teased, "It's not that bad."

"Really." She muttered, hanging loose in resignation. "It is, trust me."

"It's all perfectly natural." He smirked pulling his sonic out with a flourish. She made no reply as he gently let her slide down his chest until her feet touched the floor, he grinned down at her and she tried unsuccessfully to hide behind the lapel of his suit jacket.

"Fair play to you though, quite the imagination for one so young." He added, sliding an arm around her back so he could help take some of her weight, her legs not quite ready after so long a period unused.

"Oh shut up," she mumbled into his chest, clinging to his lapels, legs shaking not only due to their slight atrophy.

"I have a surprise for you." He whispered into her hair. "We've been a bit busy while you were asleep."

"We?" She frowned curiously up at him, cheeks still flushed a delightful pink.

"Oh yes." He exclaimed holding the sonic out in front of them with flourish.

"Are you ready?" He whispered, and at her nod, activated the screwdriver.

The most beautiful sound in the universe filled the room around them, a sound she'd know anywhere, the sound of the universe itself. And then she saw it. The TARDIS. In all her glory, bright and shiny and new. She stepped forward, pressing both hands against her outer shell, laughing almost giddy as a delightfully warm pulse travelled up through her fingers and arms and spread across her chest. She was practically bouncing on the spot as the Doctor produced a shiny familiar key from his pocket and slipped it into the lock, inching the door open before turning to grin madly at her.

"Welcome home, Rose Tyler."


	12. Chapter 12

The lobby filled with sound as the TARDIS materialised below the central staircase. Rose burst from the doors doubled over hysterically as the Doctor exited behind her belting out me & Bobby McGee at the top of his lungs.

"Feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm," He pulled the door closed with a flourish, grabbing Rose and twirling her as he sang.

"Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee." They finished together, laughter echoing off the cavernous room.

"Janis was brilliant," Rose beamed, "But my god, trying to keep her hands off ya-"A faint blush tinting her features," I don't know how you can stand to drink so much anyways, I mean she was blind on half a bottle."

"Southern Comfort?" He snorted removing the tie from his head, "Please, 51st Century Hypervodka now that, THAT can get even a Time Lord wasted."

"You mean that whole time-" Rose gaped.

"Yup," He popped grinning smugly, "Sober as a judge."

"You bastard-" She laughed slapping his shoulder, "Bloody Time Lord," he caught her arm quite easily taking her by surprise as he spun her and pulled her back against his chest in a bid to stop her flailing. The sound of glass breaking brought their attention to one Jackie Tyler whose current facial expression made the Doctor swallow audibly and his companion blush furiously. They quickly moved apart and Rose hurried to pick up the Tesco bag off the floor.

"Jackie." He nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Jackie challenged stalking towards the Doctor.

"Wait, what?" Rose followed glancing at the Doctor's equally as confused expression.

"How dare you come back here and try to take her away again after what you did to them." Jackie barked. The Doctor was stunned; Jackie was almost in his face if not for her short stature.

"Mum what are you talkin' about?" Rose tried to push her way in between the two of them.

"And you," She turned angrily towards her daughter, "How could you possibly consider swanning of with him after what we've just been through, after what you and the Doctor-!"

"Jackie I-" The Doctor began only to have her cut him off. Mentally he was astounded by Jackie's loyalty to him when he realised her misconception.

"Don't you dare say one word to me," She pressed a finger into his chest, backing him up against the TARDIS doors with a thud. "You abandoned them both."

"I'm not-" He tried again.

"And I'm not interested." She continued, "She nearly died and what, you take her swannin' off across the universe?"

"But-" He tried unsuccessfully to interrupt her tirade.

"You got some nerve-?" Rose captured her mother's finger mid jab.

"Mum!" She growled. "He's Our Doctor." Snatching up Jackie's other hand and pressing them against the Doctor's chest. "One heart."

Jackie eyes went wide and immediately she backed away shaking her head as the thumping of his heart vibrated against her palm, the realisation instantaneous.

"Doctor, forgive me." Her eyes flicking from him to the TARDIS, remorse and confusion written across her face.

"The TARDIS, the coat- I thought-"

"Oh," He grinned glancing down at himself pulling back his lapels. "No, it arrived yesterday, couldn't believe my luck actually."

"And the T-"

"The TARDIS," The Doctor preened. "Was grown. Here, in this universe. She's brand new."

"Grown?" Jackie murmured moving to place a cautious hand on the panelling.

"You remember on the beach the other Doctor gave im' a peice of sorta coral?" Rose prompted and a brief flash of recognition crossed her mother's face.

"You said it would take thousands of years?" Jackie balked, "Then Donna said- How long have you been-"

"No, no, no, no, no." The Doctor quickly interrupted, internally rolling his eyes, "We've only been gone fifteen hours or so, eight since you left us in the library."

"Can I see?" Jackie asked hesitantly, the Doctor unlocked the door and pushed it open for her. She cautiously stepped inside out of sight.

"It looks the same," Jackie's voice carried through the open door. The Doctor and Rose grinned at each other stupidly .A few seconds later she rejoined them.

"I thought you said she was new." Jackie frowned.

"She is," The Doctor whined defensively.

"It's a sort of tribute in a way," Rose squeezed his arm to calm him, explaining it to Jackie. "To her mother."

"Her mother? Oh," Jackie exclaimed with a smile, feeling a rush of emotions for both time machines, "Well of course it is, lovely thing that she was, is I mean. Always brought you both back safely," She patted the outside affectionately, snatching her fingers back as a strange warm tingling shot up her arm, making her hairs stand on edge.

"Pond says hello," He grinned rocking back on his heels proudly.

"Pond?" Jackie questioned absently shaking the strange but not unpleasant sensation from her arm.

"That's her name." Rose replied almost caressing the panelling.

"TARDIS have names?" Jackie questioned the Doctor.

"This one does." He nodded towards the ship gleefully.

"So how did you end up with her after only what- three, maybe four days at the most?" Jackie was bewildered.

"What happened to us was a unique, converging point of temporal distension caused by a metamorphosis of a significant number of bio plasmic fields, the results of which created a sort of universal multi-dimensional whiplash which filtered back through my timeline, past, present and future, Rose's time stream and that of the original TARDIS, which is connected to every point in time and space, leading to a feedback loop of residual artron energy which was gesticulated to a matching protogenic receptor, the remaining energy therefore accelerating the growth factor of the receptacle resulting in voile, one full grown TARDIS." He grinned at her. Jackie remained silently stunned.

"Well good on you love," Jackie patted his shoulder, plucking the bag from Rose's hand.

"Pete's gotta take care of some Vitex who-ha so we're gonna head off before lunch," She spoke to Rose, "Got some things at home that need taking care of too, make sure to come visit." They watched as she turned and strode across the room and disappeared in the direction of the ground floor kitchen. There was silence as they looked at each other, and then the Doctor broke, snorting with laughter, Rose just shook her head with a knowing smile.

"Was any of that what actually happened?" Rose nudged him with her shoulder lightly as they crossed the lobby.

"More or less." He glanced down at her in amusement, "Couldn't very well tell her the truth now could I?"

"And that would be?" She raised an eyebrow at the glimmer of something in his eyes, his trainers squeaking as he turned to walk backwards in front of her.

"That her only daughter traversed the multiverse snogging strange Alien men, created an unimaginable paradox with the potential to unmake existence AND according to at least 47, 229 galaxies, got married, all without inviting her to the wedding." He disappeared into the corridor leaving her frozen to the spot in shock for a second.

_Married?_

_Sort of._

"Oh Jackie." He sing-songed, cackling loudly as Rose came charging, red faced up the hall.

"You wouldn't dare," She warned under her breath as she caught up to him, glad he didn't reply, jabbing him in the ribs when he laughed harder.

"Oh shut up." She rolled her eyes, pushing ahead of him through the office doors.

* * *

After an almost tearful reunion with their now very relieved companions, the Doctor sat sipping tea with his feet propped up on the table in what was now the appropriately named 'Tea Room'.

"Ianto this is brilliant." He downed the rest of his mug and lounged back in his chair, hands locked across his stomach.

Ianto Jones had arrived promptly at Donna's request, professionally attired and ready for whatever she could throw at him. An hour and eight phone calls later, he'd arranged for their office equipment to be delivered, some other strange pieces at the Doctor's request, ordered lunch and managed to procure a rather elaborate looking coffee machine from a dusty storage cupboard, as well as a handsome looking tea set. The Doctor personally had been a little offended when Ianto felt he had to ask if he could stay on and work with them permanently.

"I'm glad Sir." He smiled from behind the coffee machine, shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow digging in the bowels of the machine.

"No Sir, just the Doctor." Ianto nodded and closed the back of the machine, filled it with fresh beans, milk, and water then flicked it on.

"That should be it." He grinned wiping his hands on a tea towel before rolling his sleeves down, buttoning his cuffs and shrugging his suit jacket back on.

When Rose walked in, still sulking the Doctor noted mentally, and plonked herself next to him, the smell of fresh ground coffee and steaming milk causing her to sniff loudly.

"That smells brilliant." She moaned, Ianto set a mug down in front of her and she took a cautious sip. "Tastes even better." She added. The Doctor rolled his eyes looking up as Jake entered the room last, taking the proffered coffee from Ianto he sat down between Martha and Donna.

"I have an announcement." Jake grinned, momentarily distracted as he took a sip of his coffee, "Ohh that's good ta." He took another sip, Martha nudged him.

"Right." He began. "I think now would be a great time to tell you all, since the people round this table mean the most to us, and in light of recent events, it brings me great pleasure to announce that me an' Martha are gettin' married." There was a round of applause from table.

"Congratulations." The Doctor beamed shaking Jake's hand.

"And about time too." Donna quipped kissing Martha.

"So when's the big day?" Rose laughed at Jake as Donna planted one on him too.

"December 23rd." Jake smiled putting his arm around his fiancé.

"What?" Donna gaped. "But that's just under a month away, how are ya gonna manage that."

"It's not going to be an extravagant affair or anything, just something simple." Martha smiled happily. "Jackie and Pete already said it was okay to use their gardens."

"Anything I can help with?" Ianto offered. "It wouldn't be any trouble, I know some people."

"You sure Ianto?" Jake frowned and chuckled, "I mean this place needs enough attention as it is, and you've already volunteered for that."

"I assure you I'm being adequately compensated for my work here thanks to the Doctor." He glanced at the man who nodded. "And really it wouldn't be a problem, just give me a list of anything specific you want or need and I'll see what I can do."

"Here." Martha pulled a list, a little red faced, from her pocket and handed it to Ianto. "It's not much." He looked over it briefly.

"If you'll excuse me." He smiled pulling his phone from his pocket and stepping out of the room.

"He's marvellous." Martha gaped.

"Told ya." Donna smirked.

"I was thinking," The Doctor spoke up, breaking his uncharacteristically silent spell.

"Oooh careful." Rose jibed quietly, Donna's snort earning her an almost glare.

"As I was saying," He gestured at the two of them, "Since you two will be, together, as such, perhaps we could offer our friend Ianto a place to live as well as employment. Donna tells me he lives with his sister and her family in a small estate, they don't have much. This would be a great place for kids to come visit, I mean the pool, and the library. Hell they can live here with him for all I care." He shrugged.

"I'm all for it," Jake pulled out his flat key and tossed it to the Doctor. "Consider it his to keep."

"You're all in agreement with this." The Doctor looked around the table, receiving nothing but affirmative nods.

"Excellent." He beamed as Ianto stepped back into the room, placing a tray of sandwiches and fruit on the table. The Doctor slid the key across the table to him.

"Welcome to the family Ianto." The Doctor smiled. "Third floor is all yours, your family is welcome anytime, to come and go as they please." There was silence for a few moments.

"I don't understand." Ianto whispered a little wary glancing down at the key. "Why would you do this?"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance." The Doctor replied seriously.

Rose inhaled sharply as Ianto's variant time streams were relayed to her through the Doctor's connection, _Jack and Ianto facing the 456 side by side, Jack's pain at reviving to find him dead and his doppelganger watching his alternate self's funeral, saved from his fate by the deal with Mairwyn leading to the enslavement of the human race._ She covered her reaction with a cough. The Doctor's eyes flickered to his companion briefly in concern.

Ianto nodded slowly and tucked the key into his breast pocket.

"I don't know what to say," He began. "I-" He made to leave.

"If you'll all please excuse me, I should probably call my family, plus I fear unconsciousness may be a few moments away." He chuckled lightly before disappearing out the door.

"Well that went well," Donna grinned stuffing a strawberry into her mouth, turning to Martha and Jake excitedly as they began to discuss the impending wedding.

_What the hell was that?_

_I'm still adjusting to this universe, the parallel's cascaded momentarily showing me two of his alternate realities. What I don't know is how you even perceived that, my time sense isn't something that should be able to be shared through a telepathic link. _

_He helped enslave Earth?_ Her thoughts were uneasy.

_He isn't that man. _His reply soothed her apprehension somewhat.

_Is this what you see all the time? No wonder you ain't half balmy sometimes Doctor._

_Oi. I don't comment on the flutterings that go on in your head. Some I might add, bordering on the perverse._

_Those thoughts are private ya know. _She crossed her arms and huffed, the gesture appearing almost bizarre to Donna who glanced over briefly before returning her attention to Martha.

_Oh trust me I know. I've seen just about enough of naked __Roger Daltrey__ to last me a life time._

_We were at Woodstock, he was already half naked! The whole bleedin' crowd was almost starkers. _

_I noticed, payed particular attention in fact to the 'sex god', your thoughts not mine, that attempted to relieve you of that tiny scrap of material you called a dress. _

_Your TARDIS picked it, besides, didn't see you fightin' off Janis 'I can't keep my hands to myself' Joplin when she started undressin' ya in the middle of a field._

_She wanted my jacket._ He really was oblivious sometimes.

_Yes Doctor, of course that was the ONLY thing she wanted._

_Do I detect a hint of jealousy Rose? _He raised the mental equivalent of an eyebrow.

_Oh that's rich comin' from you. It's all well and good that you render everyone impotent-_

_That was your doing, not mine. _He replied calmly

Their internal argument was interrupted by the sound of Ianto's voice, the Doctor secretly thankful Rose hadn't the required mastery to participate in two conversations at once.

"Doctor," Ianto stood beside Rose's chair with a clipboard. "I found I have access to the majority of the buildings systems through the desk in the lobby, would you object to me making it my station?"

"Whatever you fancy Ianto." The Doctor replied swinging back and forth on his chair.

"Excellent, now the rest of the office will be ready by the end of the day, the pool has been cleaned, the laundry will be sent out every Thursday unless there is a more pressing need in which case let me know, the whole complex has wireless internet access which is also operational as well as the CCTV systems, those storage containers from the garage are now in the vault, you're mail, if any, will be with me in the foyer for you to collect at your leisure."

"Now about this wedding," He flipped his page over, "Martha a man called Jeffery Walters will be in tomorrow at 9am with cake samples, the florist at 10.30, the celebrant at 11.30 and you have a dress fitting at 12.45 at the boutique down the road, Jake I've sent to your phone the address of a decent jeweller, if you need any assistance let me know." He looked over his list once more. "I also have a friend in the party hire business whose going to email through a few images of their marquees and table settings, when I receive them I'll forward them to your phone too Martha. Well, I believe that was everything for today, if it's not too much bother I'd like to have some of my things brought over and get settled?"

"Blimey." Rose breathed.

"Oh you're good." The Doctor was speechless beyond that.

"Thank you Doctor, I'll take that as a yes, I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow." And with that he departed the room.

"Now that was impressive." Jake laughed.

"Rose I think I'm in love." The Doctor stared after the door, Rose shooting him the mental equivalent of daggers.

"Donna you're brilliant." Rose grinned in spite of her mood.

"Oh I know, but it's nice to hear it." She beamed back turning to Martha.

"Now," She began, "Let's talk shoes."

* * *

Two hours later, the Doctor and Rose sat in companionable silence despite their earlier disagreement. The Doctor had managed to tune out any talk of shoes, cakes, dresses or cabaret acts, a feat he was most impressed with. Rose had added her suggestions when Donna would let her get a word in and Jake had made himself scarce under the guise of running off to the jewellers when in actual fact he was upstairs in the library catching up on the latest sports results.

"Well I suppose," The Doctor sighed pushing himself out of his seat, smiling to himself as he felt Rose's relief that he was finally moving to get them out of there, "Since we're going to be opening our home as such to intergalactic relations, just to be on the safe side I'll have to use my unrivalled knowledge of transtemporal extopatiens method to neutralise our residual electronic pattern."

"You what?" Rose stared mutely at him, following him through the door as he held it for her. Ignoring the fact that their companions carried on oblivious to them departing the room.

"I'm going to make the building disappear." Rose rolled her eyes.

"How?" She asked as they headed down the hall and back into the lobby.

"Perception filter," He replied simply slipping his key into the old lock.

"Right," She nodded following the Doctor into the TARDIS.

"So how are people gonna know it's there?"

The Doctor threw his long coat across a coral strut and rounded the console, shifting the monitor as he went and began typing away. Rose spun around the console ginning up at the time rotor like a mad woman, he glanced up from his work for a moment to beam at her. She returned it brightly. Just like old times.

"We already know it's here," He replied answering her previous question, "Those who don't, won't see it unless they know its specific location." He poked his head round the rotor to make sure she was following.

"Unless they're invited you mean," Rose gave him a knowing grin as she caught on and he returned it.

"Very good," He praised her, "Come hold this down." She rounded the console.

"What this red one?" He nodded coming to adjust random knobs and dials beside her.

"Don't let go until my mark." She nodded her understanding, waiting expectantly for his next instruction.

"And, three, two, one." His tongue resting against his teeth in concentration as he reached his foot across to another lever, "Mark!"

They moved as one, and with a small murmur from the TARDIS and a quick check of the monitor the Doctor grinned madly, his hair sticking up at different angles from a day's worth of raking his fingers through it.

"All done," He leaned casually against the console as she moved to sit in front of him, "Well done Tyler." He mock saluted.

"Aye, Aye Captain." She returned, tongue caught mischievously between her teeth. He swept around the console in an instant, pushing and pulling levers here and there then finally releasing the hand brake with a quirk of his lips.

"So," Rose swung her legs happily, buzzing with anticipation. "Where to now?"

"Weeelll," He drawled, "Pond needs some time to calibrate, so we're confined to the vortex for a while, but-" He was enjoying leaving her hanging.

"I do believe she has a few surprises for us." He waggled his eyebrows as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along the gangway.

"Where are we going?" She squealed happily, bouncing behind him. She felt like she was nineteen again, even though he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders then, somehow the two of them together made it more bearable, as it did now, she found it an immensely welcomed and freeing sensation.

"Deeper!" He exclaimed pulling her around the winding corridors then coming to a stop in front of a large set of what looked like oak doors.

"Let's start with this one." He whispered, eyes wide and grin so infectious Rose burst out laughing once more. He took a deep breath and pushed both doors open.

"Oh wow," Rose breathed, stepping slowly into the room and running her fingers across the book shelves, skimming the titles as she went.

"Very nice," He nodded in approval. Shelves upon shelves of books all held in dark wood casing which ran the perimeter. In the centre a warm, inviting fire crackled away in the hearth in front of several arm chairs and a soft beige sofa with a full complement of fluffy cushions and throws. Even the glass coffee table was piled high with books of every sort, and the desk off to the side with its small lamp held writing materials and maps, an old gramophone and a quill with several ink pots. The Doctor ran his fingers lightly over its surface appreciatively, his gaze following his companion as she perused the books before coming to warm her hands by the fire. She turned, blushing slightly but wearing a most beautiful smile and he gladly returned it.

"Come on then," He moved towards the door waggling his fingers at her. "More to see."

They ventured for what seemed like hours, deep into the ship encountering, in particular, a games room with a pool table, dart boards and card tables, a full service bar with an efficiency kitchen, a wine cellar with a bistro, a laundry room with an ironing board and a sewing machine, an indoor pool, a theatre room with 10 sets of love seats to accommodate a crowd, a sauna, a whole room dedicated to spas, a kitchen with a small green house attached, an artificial outside barbeque area, a study with wooden panelled walls and a huge carved desk and a red leather chair, a music room with a baby grand piano and other instruments, a formal garden, an infirmary and two tennis court.

Those were just the ones she could remember, or rather those that were relevant to her particular species. Rose was exhausted by the time they reached the grand foyer with its magnificent winding stone staircase that branched off to the right and left wing much like a tree, and black and white marble flooring.

"I hope she remembered to give us somewhere to sleep." Rose yawned, taking the Doctors hand as he stood, eyes fixed on the tapestry above the staircase. She followed his gaze as it drifted over the depiction of a great battle as it raged across the stars, and then its sole surviving participant. She gripped his hand tighter, an assurance of sorts. The Doctor squeezed her hand back.

"It's from the planet Crafe Tec Heydra." He began, "It's a- a." He looked down at her, the sadness she saw in his eyes threatening to consume her. Then it was gone, his eyes flicking back. "It's the only- The final battle." He whispered almost inaudibly. "That's me," He pointed to the last shadowy outline of a man, his mouth opening and shutting mutely. "Was me, I guess. Still." He shrugged.

"What does it say?" Rose whispered, gently running the hand not clenched in his across the swirling font which the TARDIS either couldn't, but more likely, refused to translate.

"Hmmm?" Came his distracted reply.

"I can't read it." She whispered, wrapping herself round his arm.

"Oh," He murmured slowly in realisation, reaching his other hand and placing it gently against her temple. "Try now." He breathed, the swirls fading into comprehension she read just above a whisper.

"You Are Not Alone..." His fingers slipped from her face and she moved quickly to hold his palm against her cheek.

"You're not you know," She kissed his palm lightly, "Not anymore." He nodded, squeezing her hand affectionately. "We're like two of a kind, yea, no me in this universe, no you, that makes us unique, together."

"Universal Strays?" He quirked an eyebrow chuckling softly.

"Oh definitely," She smiled up at him. "No one here quite like us Doctor."

He laughed loudly, the sound bursting from his chest. How was it she always knew just what to say to bring him back from the edge.

"No," He grinned kissing her forehead, "I should hope not." Her objection was muffled by a small yawn.

"Come on then," They climbed the main staircase admiring the Alien landscapes which extended along the landing to a large old door with an intricately carved swirl laced with silver and gold metalwork. "Is it-?" Rose frowned.

"Your room actually." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"I've seen this before," She squinted back at it, stuffing the feeling of disappointment at her having her own room deep down, hoping he wouldn't catch it.

"Yes," He agreed slowly nodding his head, watching as she ran her fingers gently over the door seal.

"On the console of the old TARDIS." She looked to him for the piece of information she seemed severely lacking.

"It's your room Rose," He murmured. "What do you think it says?"

"My name." She whispered, eyes wide in realisation, turning to him grinning madly.

"It's my name." She laughed happily turning back to it. "It's beautiful."

Rose pushed through the door excitedly, followed closely by the Doctor. They ascended a spiral staircase at the top of which was truly astonishing.

"Oh." Rose breathed. "Pond, you clever beautiful ship you."

The ceiling domed similar to the console room, but instead of the organic orange a galaxy of stars blazed overhead. More rich tapestries adorned the walls which were half dark wood panelling, half stone. Beside the open log fire, golden painted stars shone like jewels in the sky above a circular semi-sunken bath already full of hot fragrant steaming water and an endless supply of bubbles. The focal point of the room however, was the hand carved four poster bed draped in deep red velvet with swirls of sparkling silver.

The Doctor's attention was diverted from his perusal of the room by his squealing companion as she stepped out of a closet hidden within the wall.

"It's all my stuff." She grinned at him clutching a photo frame to her chest. "From the other TARDIS. Clothes, souvenirs."

"Well of course it's here," He smirked glancing down at the photo of his former self, Jack and Rose, taken at the hatcheries on Raxacoricofallapatorious. "Look there's Margaret." He pointed grinning.

"But how?" She was breathless, tracing lightly over the image.

"Our TARDIS was created from a piece of the original, it's a part of her genetic make up to remember everything as it was before, she simply recreated it."

Rose placed the image down on the bedside table and practically launched herself onto the bed beaming at the ceiling, imagining herself pushing all the love she felt for the ship from her chest up and out at her. The Doctor gasped as the sensation slammed into him through his link with Rose and the ship simultaneously.

"Doctor," She was off the bed and at his side, doubled over he held up a hand chuckling breathlessly.

"I'm fine," He assured her. "Secondary relay of emotion transmitted through something as big as the TARDIS, just caught me off guard that's all."

"You what?" She looked at him as though he'd just drooled down his shirt. He laughed genuinely then, breathing deep as the feeling began to wear off.

"She's still young, hasn't learnt to dim down the sensory input she sends back to me, so when you expressed an 'appreciation' for what she'd done, she sent it to me as she felt it. Which to me, felt about the equivalent of being hit by a lorry."

She stared at him curiously for a moment, watching as he returned to his normal posture taking a deep breath. "Alright?"

He nodded with an exhausted grin. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You look like you've just been shagged rotten Doctor." She smirked taking in his slight panting, dishevelled brown mop and now faint blush.

"Yes, well." He breathed, "Wait, what?"

She collapsed on the bed cackling horrendously at his indignant splutter, she had tears in her eyes as he left muttering about finding his room and taking a shower.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning Rose was ripped into awareness by a loud crash as the Doctor barged into her room, grinning from ear to ear and blatantly ignoring her protests to remain in the soft warmth of her bed. After a failed attempt to kick him away she hauled herself up, fumbling with her jeans as she dressed, while he ranted animatedly with his back to her. He barely gave her enough time to do up her trainers before unceremoniously dragging her straight out of her bedroom and through the console room and out in to the brilliant sunshine. She silently cursed the TARDIS for facilitating his efforts by shifting her corridors.

"Rose Tyler," He grinned strutting down the boardwalk as she pulled the door, "Welcome to Treroess Major, fifth planet from Praudashe, Spiral Galaxy NGC 2403, 15th of March 5075." "Oh my god what is that!" She exclaimed leaning out over the board rails, pointing to the shimmering silver city wrapped in cloud, floating above a crystal clear ocean.

"That," He reached a long slender pinstriped arm down to the waterline and flicked the frigid water up at his companion, "Is Silverwall." He cackled madly as he dashed off towards the gates to the city.

"Argh that's freezin'," She squealed momentarily shocked by firstly the cold and then by the fact he'd done it before bolting after his coat tails. Oh she'd missed this.

"Treroess Major is known through-out the galaxy for their unrivalled hospitality, glorious beaches, and the mystery and intrigue of the Mistral Mountains. Mind you, by this time though they're a lot less mysterious. Well, in our universe anyways." He gave as an afterthought. "Also, the original concept behind the Castle on a Cloud Cosette refers to in Les Miserables." He grinned, gesturing wildly towards the city.

She grabbed onto the back of his coat as he weaved his way through the crowd, and wiped the remaining water droplets from her face on the arm of his jacket and shoulder. An expression she had never seen flickering across his features. She glanced towards the crowd to hide the blush creeping up her neck as she realised that she had all but nuzzled into his arm. Not the most intimate gesture in the universe of course, but still, it seemed that way.

They joined a long line of tourists, happily snapping cameras at anything and everything, from the gigantic silver gates to each other. The Doctor popped his head round to see what the holdup was, only to realise the line was in fact backed up through the gates and all across the suspension bridge to the inner city walls. Rose followed his vision and frowned.

"What's happenin'?" She grabbed his shoulders, attempting to jump and take a glance over the crowd. "Doctor I can't see."

"Oi," He protested rubbing his shoulder, his eyes darting back to the seemingly endless stream of people ahead of them. "There's nothing TO see, haven't you ever been a line up before?"

"Yea," She snorted, "Just never with you, always flashin' the psychic paper. Patience is a virtue you never seemed to have quite got a hold of."

"Still haven't," He frowned rocking impatiently from foot to foot. "What's taking so long?"

"What are they all here for?" Rose questioned still trying to use his height to gain a higher perspective.

"Will you stop that?" He chuckled steadying as she missed her footing almost colliding with the large woman in front.

"Sorry." Rose blushed as the woman turned at the commotion behind her.

"No harm done love." She gushed, "So are you two here for the Merging?"

"The what?" Rose squinted as the sun reflected uncomfortable off the woman's extravagantly large silver hair piece.

"Oh by the Danin how could you not know?" She fussed turning to her partner who was reading a newspaper, "Jupolt these two have no idea, where have you been!" She turned back to them.

"But where's my manners, my name's Mearlt, and this useless excuse for a Meridorian, is my life partner Jupolt, lovely to meet you." She extended a hand to Rose then the Doctor.

"Good to meet you too Mearlt," He nodded to Jupolt, "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose."

"Meridorian, you said, you're a long way from home." The Doctor grinned stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"We're on holidays, came over especially for the big event," She was bursting with excitement, "Practically everyone's gonna be here."

"So what's all this about then?" Rose asked trying once again to use the Doctor for a higher purchase much to his dismay.

"It's only the Merging of the Century," She fanned herself with a small brochure turning back to her partner as the line seemed to be progressing through the gates.

"What's a merging?" Rose spoke softly so the other woman wouldn't hear. "Sort of like a corporate takeover or somethin'?"

"No," He chuckled as they strolled across the bridge, "It's a wedding. Of sorts."

"Riiiiight," She nodded now only noticing the immensity of the city itself and its unique construction as they passed into the inner walls. "Probably should have bought somethin then."

"Nah," He sniffed flashing the gatekeeper the psychic paper. "Not that sort of shindig."

"My Lord, Ma'am" He gestured to the staircase to the right as he gently slipped a silver chain with a white star over Rose's head. "You will find an usher upon the landing, he'll show you to your seats."

Rose snatched the paper off him and tucked the charm under her t-shirt when she noticed that nearly everyone was being presented with one, leaning closer into the Doctors side snorting as she read the psychic paper before slipping it into her pocket.

"So who's takin' the plunge," She quipped, momentarily distracted as the staircase shot sideways as they stepped up. She grabbed his coat to steady herself.

"Haven't the foggiest." He shrugged, his long legs carrying him swiftly up the remaining stairs where a short round man in red robes greeted them.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Rose." He shook the man's hand vigorously.

"Welcome to you both, please follow me this way." He ushered them along the landing high above the central chamber past booths of important looking guest and dignitaries. The Doctor frowned looking over the railing to the mass of people below, slowing his steps slightly before taking Rose by the hand and ducking off away from their escort down a flight of stairs to the lower level.

"Now that's better," He beamed, pulling her through the guests crammed around the dais in the centre to a spot on the back wall and helped Rose up onto a small shelf like architrave so she could see. "Right in the thick of it!" She nodded happily in response.

"So this merging right, what's that all about?" She practically shouted over the growing volume of voices.

"What?" He replied distractedly as a large bluish blob of an alien barged him closer against Rose, squishing her further into the corner. Not that she was complaining.

"Why is it so special?" She gestured towards the dais as a tall figure in a hooded crimson robe began its journey through the parting crowd, silencing then with its presence.

"Treroess Major, as the name implies is the largest planet in an Empire which spans a galaxy with over a hundred thousand inhabited planets totalling over 600 trillion constituents'."

"Blimey." She breathed.

"Indeed." He agreed continuing, "Today is the day the Danin will choose his wife."

"How'd you mean?"

"The Empress will be chosen by the Galaxias Tribunal, a sort of panel of judges if you will, who search through the trillions of possibilities and create a short list based on things like intelligence, loyalty, bravery, personality etc and compatible genetics things like that, they live quite a long while too, not anywhere near my kind mind you but still a good three, maybe four hundred years."

"Time sensitive?" She queried. "Regeneration, bigger on the inside stuff?"

"In a manner of speaking," He replied, "No trans-dimensional science though, and only a limited amount of biogenic molecules to regenerate any damaged or dying cells. They rely mostly on nanogenes though to heal most things, quite advanced little blighters they've got here, not like the Chulan ones from Jacks ship."

"It's considered a great honour to be chosen as a prospective suitor, many of those on the shortlist, if not chosen by the Danin himself, will be betrothed to the other members of the royal family who have not yet taken a partner." He raised his chin towards the opposite landing where other robed figures stood observing their kin.

"How is that right though?"Rose frowned. "Don't they get given a choice, the women I mean, what if they don't even like im' or somthin' and then have to put up with him for hundreds of years?"

"They spent quite a significant time becoming acquainted with their mates before actually entwining their lives together. Two beings in perfect synch with each other, body, mind and soul." She was looking at him now, a sadness sitting just behind his eyes despite him not looking at her. "They rule as one but represent opposing sides, the yin and yang of the universe so to speak, one that helps keep the balance and flow. Very few species have that ability."

"You talk as if you know a lil' bit bout this stuff personally Doctor." She replied softly, knowing he'd hear despite the sounds of the room.

"Oh yes," He whispered glancing up at her then back to the crowd. "Not that much different to my people. Perpetual Binding. I told you I had a family once, life times ago. All gone now. Quite similar a species, fascinating really, we're actually not that different now in this regeneration though-." He gestured towards the Danin with his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Oh." She breathed following his gaze, realising the implication.

"Yea." He replied.

"So Time Lords um- mate?"

"Yea."

"Right." She nodded. "Not that human then."

"Nope. That ok?"

"Yea I just, are we, you know-"

"Compatible?" His gaze remained fixed. "Sort of."

"Right, sort of." She nodded, brain mulling over the possibilities. "Wha' do ya mean sort of?"

"Well," He drawled hand defaulting to the nape of his neck, "We already share a telepathic bond so that part isn't a problem, but," Pausing to stress his point. "As the last of my kind, well second last now really, there's a certain biological imperative to well, you know-"

"Breed?" She finished, attempting to hold back a smirk, earning herself a glare at the vulgar term and inflection in her tone.

"Hmmm." Was his only response, the blush that followed would have amused her if it wasn't accompanied by the saddening of his eyes.

"But Humans and Time Lords aren't genetically compatible." She whispered and he nodded in affirmation.

"Can the TARDIS do anything?"

"No," He shook his head slowly.

"Did he know-" She whispered.

"No, no," He replied quietly, "Didn't even know myself until I had to test the machines we had installed back on Earth." She frowned at him. "I had a few theories, I wanted to be sure we could, um, but, well, anyway that's when I found the biogens. The TARDIS confirmed it."

"Biogens? But that means- oh that's not fair." She looked away. "You'll still outlive-"

"You'll live a lot longer than you expect, a side effect of travelling with me and the TARDIS, but still, yes. I will, unless we're you know, then when you go-." He scuffed his trainer along the floor looking down. "I'd go too."

"Together?" She breathed.

"Together." He swallowed audibly glancing off.

"Is that why we're here?" She murmured watching for the tell tale signs he was closing himself off but he had no intention of shutting her out.

"Weeeeell, yes," He released a breath he didn't realise he was holding, keeping his eyes fixed on the Danin. "I thought it'd be easier to explain if you could see something similar maybe, maybe, you'd understand that this isn't anything like what you'd consider normal, I'm not human as you well know, and this is, if we're going to even consider it, and I have, I promised you my forever on that beach, and this is not something to be taken lightly."

"I'd never-" She began, anger flitting across her eyes, had he forgot that she too had promised all that time ago when he'd asked how long she'd stay with him. He was still the Doctor, she loved him no matter what.

"I know." He nodded, flashing her a small smile. "But still, as my, my- Rose there'd be nothing separating us, our minds become one, nowhere to hide, everything that I am, all I've done spilling through your mind, time and space and everything, and I've done some horrendous things Rose."

"So have I." She replied softly. "And I would, you know, if I could-" She slipped her hand in his pocket and wrapped it around his own. "I'd do it for you."

She turned back to the dais as the crimson figure stood before the assembly, gracefully sliding his hood down to reveal long shining white locks framing a slender almost angelic face and brilliant piercing grey eyes. The Doctors eyes transfixed on her profile as her words sunk into his mind.

"Welcome friends," He smiled sincerely, "We are most honoured that you have joined us to celebrate this most joyous occasion." The crowd clapped and cheered.

"Is that the Danin?" She questioned leaning closer to his ear.

"Mhmm."

"He looks like Haldir." She murmured and the Doctor chuckled.

"He does a bit doesn't he." He nudged her, "Never would've pegged you as a Tolkien fan."

"Brilliant he is," She ginned at him. "Definitely have to meet him."

"Oh you'll love him," He laughed agreeing. "And you thought some of my stories were farfetched."

"Know betta now though don't I." She quipped, attention returning to the Danin as he continued.

"As you well know, today I will choose from those worthy to take a place beside me as my wife and Empress." His eyes sweeping the room. "It has been a long journey, but finally after the sad passing of my forebares, we will restore peace and harmony to our worlds." A cheer rang from the gathering once more.

"As I speak the Galaxias Tribunal are calling suitors home to Silverwall, some have in fact already arrived." His gaze surveyed his people. "This is the beginning of a new age for the Galactic Empire, those who receive the calling will be taken to the Moon of Lupus and from there, the future will be seeded." Another round of cheering and applause echoed off the white stone walls. The Danin closed his eyes, hands resting as if in prayer.

"What does he mean seeded?" Rose grimaced. "Hope it's not what it sounds like."

"It is." The Doctor replied. "A little backward if you ask me, but it works for them, has done for a millennia."

"I have chosen." Exclaimed the Danin joyously, arms thrown wide. The Doctor leaned towards his companion to give a running commentary.

"They'll transmat the suitable contenders off world, along with the newly proclaimed Empress, samples will be taken for genetic combination and the hosts will be inseminated artificially, much like your species In-Vitro Fertilisation, with the corresponding betrothed royal, the embryo is then suspended temporally until both parties have been bound and it's safe to be released and form naturally. Can't very well have a pregnant female on a ship that takes months to travel across the galaxy, it's not safe and it's certainly not pretty." The Doctor remarked grimacing before the world flashed a brilliant white and he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sometime later...

The Doctor's internal clock was slightly scewiff as to the exact length of time he had been unconscious, brought back to reality by the sound of his companions almost hysterical slandering.

"Doctor!"

"Doctor wake up!" She swore, something particularly filthy, apparently she'd been listening quite thoroughly every time he'd sworn at the TARDIS. The Doctor had a passing thought at how appealing those particular expletives sounded coming from her mouth in his language.

"I had a dream you were insulting me, repeatedly." He groaned as he rolled over and pushed himself unsteadily up off the floor.

"Well that's just strange then init." She snapped craning her neck around the med table she was strapped to so she could see him.

"Are you alright?" He queried, senses realigning themselves as the effects of the transmat wore off.

"No I bloody well am not!" She ground out through her teeth. It was at that point that a rather unpleasant realisation hit him.

"Oh no." He whispered.

"Oh yes, now get me outta this." He could see the panic on her face as a small unit of sentries marched through the doors at the opposite end of the lab. The sonic was out in a flash and seconds later he helped her off the bed, and backing them into a corner, his body effectively shielding her from the approaching men. He wielded the sonic in front of them, daring them to come closer.

"Stay back." He warned pushing Rose further behind him. "This is all a big misunderstanding."

"We have come to escort the Empress to the Royal Chambers." One sentry stepped forward. "If you would accompany us and your ward this way Sir."

"My ward? Oh no no no no no," His gaze flicked between Rose and their escort. "This is wrong. Empress?"

"There is no error Sir, Rose Tyler has been chosen as the Fifteenth Empress of the Galactic Empire. The amulet constitutes a legally binding contract, which was worn into the city, therefore activating her as a possible suitor, as previously having no discernable markings and/or bindings of betrothment, nor titles of universal claimation." The Doctor was speechless.

"Like bloody hell." She growled clinging to the Doctor's coat.

"What's the penalty for refusing?" The Doctor breathed, dread pooling in his stomach his eyes slipping closed knowing the only possible answer.

"Death." Replied the Sentry in simple fact. "She carries the heir."

"I what-" She paled, one trembling hand flattening against her stomach, her terrified eyes searching wise old brown for reassurance. "Doctor?"

"I can fix this it's alright." He murmured placing his hand over hers on her stomach, eyes not leaving the Sentries.

"How can this possible be alri-" Fear radiated off her, humming through their connection. He turned swiftly towards her eyes flickering between her face and her stomach.

"Trust me," He replied in a whisper taking her face in his hands, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. "I promise you I can fix this." She nodded reluctantly as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"Please come with us Sir." The Sentry urged. "Our Lord awaits."

He pressed his eyes closed for a moment before he kissed her head then turned to their escort.

"Take us to the Danin." He demanded striding forward with his companion in tow, the Sentries following and surrounding them.

They were taken down a long sterile corridor and out into a large formal garden where the Danin sat under a willowing old tree enjoying the lush, tranquil surrounds, while marvelling at the sight of the planet from the small moon.

"My Lord," A sentry stepped forward bowing respectfully as he addressed his master. "The Empress has awoken."

"Excellent." He replied rising effortlessly from his place on the ground as the rest of the unit stepped away from the Doctor and Rose.

"Hello," The Doctor offered with as much cheer as he could possibly muster taking the Danin's hand while keeping Rose securely behind him. "I'm the Doctor and there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding you say?" He frowned disinterested in the man before him, attempting to peer around the Doctor at Rose. "Why do you hide my Queen and forbid my access to her?"

"Well that's the problem you see," The Doctor began, "We're travellers, only here to observe the ceremony and then off we go, now somehow, Rose became a contender for the crown and therein lays our problem."

"Rose, what a beautiful name for such a beautiful bride." The Danin circled them slowly, the Doctor keeping himself between the two, shielding Rose's body.

"Oh watch it buddy," She fumed peeking out from the Doctor's shoulder. "I ain't anybody's bride and I certainly ain't playin' nursemaid to you either."

"Oh she's feisty," The Danin chuckled, "I love it, she's perfect!"

"If it's not too much bother we'd appreciate it if you would kindly send us back down to the planet so we can leave." The Doctor pressed, ignoring his comment and the feel of bile rising in his throat.

"Why should I wish to do that?" The Danin replied raising a smug eyebrow. "The collar she accepted when you entered Silverwall is, as I'm sure you've already been told, a legally binding contract advertising her availability for inclusion into the cities database, the Galaxias Tribunal made their choices as did I."

"Neither Rose or myself were aware of the functioning of the amulet, nor the implications." The Doctor replied steadily. "All we ask is that we are permitted to return to the planet so we can leave."

"And you would take my heir with you?" He questioned seriously, eyes flashing towards Rose's stomach and their entwined hands still fisted tightly in her shirt over it.

"The cells are in temporal-suspension," The Doctor replied, eyes burning into the Danin's. "I will do what's necessary."

"First you do not permit me access to my Mate," The Danin stepped towards the Doctor, fire in his eyes, "Then you propose to kill my offspring?"

"She is NOT your Mate." The Doctor challenged, "And I will not permit you to bind yourself to her. She's human; she cannot bring your child into this world."

"Human you say?" Mused the Danin. "There have been myths and legends, stories passed down from the ancient times, the seers, from the Empires very beginnings of a Solian woman who would bear the heirs of a lost race. And we are a lost race Doctor."

"Hardly," He snorted, "A hundred thousand year reign, trust me, I know a little about lost races, you don't qualify."

"How dare you scoff at me," The Danin fumed rounding on the Doctor, "We cannot produce our children by natural means, we are no longer afforded such a luxury. We are unstable, cellular degeneration runs rampant through our bloodlines and our women have become sterile. I am the second last naturally born heir of the Desturia line. She carries in her womb our last hope at salvation."

"She isn't yours to play god with." He countered angrily. "Besides, I thought your Tribunal sorted out the genetic correlations and compatibility. Why did they chose her if she isn't compatible, why did YOU choose her?"

"Because she is an anomaly." The Danin replied eyes glassing slightly as if he were being relayed the information from an external source. "We saw strength and courage and fierce loyalty. She will be a fine Empress. And a magnificent mother."

"She is NOT yours." Snarled the Doctor, causing the Danin to focus back on the present.

"And what is it to you," He argued, "You lay no claim to her, she is not even of your species. You are unfamiliar to us Doctor. What ARE you? By Order of the Shadow Proclamation what is your species designation and origin?"

"That doesn't matter," The Doctor countered viciously, "Rose doesn't belong to anybody and I won't let you kill her!"

"Species and Origin!" Demanded the Danin, his guards stepping in to restrain the Doctor as Rose was dragged away from him screaming.

"Rose!" He cried after her, "Give her back to me now!"

"Species, Origin!" He bellowed.

"Time Lord," He growled, "Kasterborous Constellation, Gallifrey!" The Danin paled immediately.

"Release her." He ordered quietly, taking a step back as Rose flung herself into the Doctor, who wrapped his long coat around her protectively. The Danin's eyes never leaving the dark, ancient depths of Time Lords. "Take them to the holding cells on the twenty second floor, give them nourishment and Assemble the Collective, we must confer immediately."

"Yes my Lord," The Sentry captain bowed, ushering them from the gardens.

"And do not let them out of your sight!" He ordered as he strode across the gardens and into the shadows.


	14. Chapter 14

The Doctor observed his companion cautiously from the darkening corner of their prison cell, as she sat against the wall on a small cot wrapped in his coat.

"Some things never change yea?" Rose half laughed watching him out of the corner of her eye, having caught a glimpse at the seemingly endless stream of self-deprecating thoughts that were passing through his overly active mind as they'd been pushed through the cell door before he'd shut down her end of his internal monologue.

"This isn't your fault you know." She pressed patting the spot next to her. "You know the TARDIS takes us where we're needed more than where we wanna go." He moved away from his place on the wall and sat down heavily beside her with a sigh.

"I know," He breathed, eyes flickering between her own and the small hand still clutched to her stomach. "But this-"

"Doesn't matter," She replied threading her arm around his, entwining their fingers and laying her head against his shoulder, breathing in the soothing scent of him. She believed him when he said he could fix this, so she wasn't overly concerned about her current predicament at the present moment.

"You smell like honey." She mumbled against him wearily.

"Hmmm?" He raised his eyebrows slightly in question as his head lolled back against the wall angled towards the top of her head.

"I never noticed before," She spoke into his jacket sleeve taking another deep inhalation.

"Are you sniffing me Rose Tyler?" The corner of his lip turning up in a hint of a smirk as she stilled her intake of air.

"N-No," She stuttered, "I just-"

He disentangled them so he could tuck her up under his arm, her head almost resting beside his heart.

"It's the Adenohypophysic stimulants," He mumbled into her hair, "And judging by the smell of it, quite a rather extreme dose of them too."

"You what?" Came her muffled response.

"Chorionic Gonadotropin, Estrogens, Progesterone." He listed them off. "Problem is the drugs they used aren't designed for humans. The two species just aren't compatible."

"Story of my life." She muttered darkly and his arm tightened around her. "So how are we different, me and him, you and me, I mean physically we all look similar-"

"We're just made from different stuff," He screwed up his face as he formulated the problems in a way she'd understand. "We're all time and things, genetically. If a cell were allowed to divide," He paused glancing down at torso, "You'd burn Rose, from the inside out. Your cells would liquefy from the resulting temporal cataclysm."

"Blimey," She breathed as a shudder crept through her.

"Yea, well impressive remember." He muttered, "That'll still kill you," His eyes flickered to her stomach again, "Not quite as universally bad, but for you bad, the foetus is a parasite that literally drains the life out of you, horrid little blighters, then consider what they become, it's somewhat of a conundrum, probably be a lot better for the mothers if they were loomed come to think of it. The females of their species are built differently, a little more solid than humans, significantly longer life span to drink up."

"Oh, well-" She began cut off by the continued vocalisation of his inner thought processing.

"But with your bio-data trace though, implantation should never have been possible," He began gesturing wildly with his free hand, "If I'd been conscious I could have stopped it regardless of the stimulants. But no, rubbish new body, blipped out at the interference from the transmat. I can understand now why Rassilon wanted that loomed out of us." He mused, stare glazing over in thought.

"And what does he mean by 'anomaly' the pretentious, presumptuous-" He finished loudly with an insult in his native tongue as he eye-balled the guards murderously.

"Oi," Rose jabbed him in his ribs. "Language."

"That's rich," He huffed, "What was it you called me before?"

"Yea, learnt from the best didn't I." She smirked up at him.

"It doesn't count if you don't understand it." He raised an eyebrow.

"Not my fault the TARDIS won't translate." She challenged playfully.

"I speak English," He rolled his eyes again. "The TARDIS, both of them, is the tiniest bit the prude, won't translate 'Cursive' so she dubs it, in her opinion you're much too young for that sort of profanity."

"Hmmm, wonder what else she thought I was too young for." She muttered and he pretended not to hear. "Why can't I read the console though?" She continued. "You know sometimes that might come in handy."

"She can't translate that, it's completely different, your eyes just aren't equipped to read it properly, and the English language isn't complex enough to even comprehend anything outside three dimensional physics." He replied. "Omegabet is mostly mathematical equations, incredibly precise when dealing with the entirety of time and space but not very practical for much else."

"But you could teach me yea?" She countered. "Teach me to speak like you."

"You'd want to learn?" He frowned down at her as she shook her head.

"But it's dead; maybe one or two species in the whole multiverse would understand it. It would take years, my people had 208 language tenses, the alphabet alone has ten million letters and there are at least three levels to each to add a different subtext."

"So it'll take a while yea," She nodded. "But then you wouldn't be the only one who remembers it, the only one to speak it."

"I'm not." He gently reminded her.

"In this universe then." She replied. He considered her request with a strange expression. "If you want?" She added self-consciously.

"Oh I'd love it." He grinned and she returned it.

"Good." She replied and the two of them erupted into laughter despite their situation.

"Sir," A Sentry stepped forward, "If you could please keep the noise down, there are people trying to sleep."

"Oh go rot in a black star." He growled earning another jab from his companion. He looked off towards the small window of their cell and out into the darkening sky.

"Go rot in a-" Rose giggled a few moments later. "Was that an insult on your planet?"

"Some things just sound rubbish in English, the point of emphasis gets lost in translation." He groaned. "Maybe the TARDIS does it so I don't sound like a complete twat."

"Prolly not a bad thing then," She smirked, "Considering how much that mouth gets us in trouble at the best of times."

"Oi," He spluttered, "It's gotten us out of some scrapes too thank you very much."

"Yea it has," She smiled, squeezing his hand. "But how's it gonna fix this?" She questioned quietly fiddling with the hem of his jacket.

"I told you I'd take care of that," He spoke softly. "I'll make sure your body rejects the foreign cell."

"Will it hurt?" She whispered clutching his hand tighter.

"No," He replied gently. "There's no need for me to physically remove it because for now it's a dormant singular cell, I just have to give your leukocytes a little nudge in the right direction."

"Sonic?" She queried.

"Nope," He shook his head and gently tapped his finger against her temple. "I'll just give them the information they need to destroy it."

"Like Jack's Nanogenes?" She frowned sitting up straighter against him, "You're just gonna tell em' what to do?"

"Shhhh!" He hissed placing a hand over her mouth as he glanced towards the Sentries. They didn't appear to have overheard.

"The perks of you mucking about with my bio-data," He gave her a pointed look as he pulled his hand away. "Is that I can play about with yours."

"How much?" She challenged.

"Enough." He replied cryptically looking back towards the window.

"Alright then Mr Mysterious," She rolled her eyes, "Still didn't answer my original question though."

"It's a side effect of the hormones." He mumbled head lolling wearily back towards her as he pulled his jacket sleeve up and brushed the exposed skin under her nose. "It's me, natural pheromone, smells like honey."

Her response fell on deaf ears as an explosion erupted from the hallway outside. A few moments later the Danin stormed into the room followed by a tall, slender brunette in shining silver armour along with a dozen or so Sentries.

"Release the door," He ordered over the sound of alarms and screaming, "Quickly we don't have much time." He turned to the Doctor as he hauled himself and Rose out into the burning corridor.

"I fear I have put you both in immeasurable danger," He ground out between barking orders to the Sentries. "The Collective have been compromised, we must leave immediately."

"What is the collective?" The Doctor demanded pulling Rose towards him as one of the steel overheads dropped away from the ceiling and crashed to the ground at their feet. "What's going on?"

"Riven," He shouted over their heads to the tall woman in silver, "Ensure the transmat are disabled after all civilians have been returned to the surface, lock out suites thirty-five through fifty-six just long enough to ensure our safe passage back down to the planet."

"Yes My Lord." She nodded returning to the console. The Danin returned his attention to the Doctor.

"Your reputation precedes you Sir." He almost smirked before taking off up the hallway.

"Yea I get that a lot," He replied following closely behind. "And it's just the Doctor."

"Indeed it is." He chuckled briefly as they dashed into a small hanger.

"Now I think you should explain to me just what's going on." The Doctor locked a steely gaze on the Danin.

"The Collective, Planetary heads of our Galaxy, my kin," He began, "For centuries we have kept our space free and peaceful. But no more." He approached a panel in the rear of a small shuttle and after a few moments and a hiss of hydraulics the hatch slid open. At the sound of another explosion his head whipped around to the doorway as Riven shot through it along with fire and debris.

"Riven get in here, you navigate, I'll take down the outer shielding. They'll be confined for a time, but I have no doubt they have minions waiting in the dark places." He ushered Rose in, almost reverently the Doctor noted, just as the sound of grinding steel emanated from the outer hull causing Riven to curse loudly and slam her fist into the console by the door.

"Riven. NOW!" He bellowed and she dashed across the hanger and in under his arm as he slammed the hatch after her. "Get us out of here!"

"Hold on!" She cried as her hands few over the control console, flicking switches brutally before taking the helm and pitching the shuttle sideways as she manoeuvred them out through the closing hanger door.

"We're not close enough to take out the shields." The Danin bit out angrily.

"Move." The Doctor ordered as he aimed the sonic towards him, the Danin registering a brief moment of confusion before he shifted, and a shrill warble sent sparks flying along the surface of the hangar and the attached habitation modules.

"Thank you." The Danin nodded breathing a sigh of relief as he sat himself down on Rose's other side. The shuttle shuddered as they escaped the outer atmospheric shell of Lupus and his arm stretched out across her only to find the Doctor's already there and holding her safely against him, a warning gleam in his eyes. The Danin retracted his hand however he did not move from Rose's side.

"Control this is Shuttle TS404 Desturia, clearance code bravo-alpha-delta-one-whiskey-oscar-lima-foxtrot." Riven barked over the coms, "We're coming in hard and fast, code blue."

"Aye that Desturia, you're cleared for landing." Came the response from the ground. "Docking platform Seventy-Three."

"Tell them there's a blue box near the gates to Silverwall," The Doctor looked towards the Danin who nodded and turned to Riven.

"Tell them to bring it quickly and have it stored in the cargo bay." He barked before continuing on with several more instructions. "Is she ready?"

"Musenda is ready and waiting my Lord." Control answered.

"Excellent," He flipped a few more switches as the shuttle rumbled as they took a steep re-entry trajectory. "We'll be with you momentarily, we disembark as soon as all are aboard an accounted for.

"Musenda?" The Doctor murmured.

"What's wrong?" Rose whispered noticing his perplexed expression.

"Nothing, probably nothing." He muttered.

"What does it mean?"She leaned into him.

"I don't remember," He looked towards her, frown deepening. She reached out and soothed the wrinkle lines from his brow.

"You will." She assured him wearily, closing her eyes as she lent further against him. "It'll be okay." He took her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her scraped knuckles. Five minutes later the Danin blazed past them opening the hatch and exiting before they had touched down. Riven powered down the shuttle and urged them to follow.

"We must go." She spoke softly, "I know you are both tired but it is not safe to linger so."

The Doctor nodded and the two of them quickly joined her, ducking under the wing of the shuttle. The Doctor came to an abrupt standstill as he stepped into the ominous shadow of the star ship ahead of them. Even without looking at it, he'd know that outline anywhere. He'd seen it swallow up ships, star destroyers, cruisers, whole worlds. He could feel her nudging against his mind, biding access. His gaze rose across the ground to the Leviathan in front of them.

"The Nightmare Child." He grit his teeth painfully, clutching Rose against his side as his gaze shifted up over the scaled exterior of the ship to the now placid mouth-like crevasse he knew housed a billion razor sharp teeth, teeth that he had seen devour Davros and his ship.

"What-?" She began to question as a stream of memory relayed from him, she gasped barely able to draw breath.

"Come On!" Riven shouted back to them from the transmat pad. "My Lord is already on board, and we have incoming." She pointed to the sky above them, as attack shuttles came into view from behind the clouds and began their onslaught.

"Run!" The Doctor was moving before she could register, dodging the ships rapid fire and hauling Rose behind him, he flung them into Riven and she slammed her hand down on the transmat.

He was ready for it this time and hardly missed a beat as he approached one of the ships consoles beside Riven and the Danin, within seconds and a deafening roar the ship launched and they were making their way through the cloud banks into the upper atmosphere. Rose however stumbled and emptied her stomach contents across the grated floor.

"Rose!" He called over his shoulder. "You need to get ready, strap yourself into the harness on the far wall."

"I've got her." The Danin flicked another switch and was at her side in a second.

"What about you." She cried over the sounds of the building engines.

"We'll be fine," He flashed a quick grin and nodded gratefully to the Danin as he buckled her in. "They're used to it, and you've seen my driving skills."

"Used to what?" She yelled back.

"Reaching terminal velocity in sixty Trels." Riven cried, her knuckles turning white as she clung to the control panel.

"Bring the Superluminal drives online," The Danin ordered and just like the Doctor, bounced between control panels, "Let's wake her up!"

"She's responding." The Doctor called from the panel beside Rose. "Keep those fighters off us!" He demanded and the Sentry to his left nodded.

"Alright you great big beautiful thing," The Danin smiled flicking switches on the controls, "Time to get us out of here."

"Bringing her about." Riven relayed, one arm bracing herself, the other covering a small sphere. "Breaching atmospheric boundaries."

"Brace for temporal ignition," The Doctor shouted, "In three, two...one!"

His voice slowed and dropped in pitch as he reached the end of the countdown. To Rose it felt like time had stopped, all sound and movement ceased, the only thing reminding her that it had not was the sound of her single heart beat and the sudden rush of blood to her head. Her eyes flicked from the Doctor's back to the view screen on the far wall which had been displaying the space surrounding Treroess. Another heartbeat and time reinstated itself, exploding in a burst of light across her vision and ripping a screaming breath from her throat as they were propelled out of the galaxy, the pressure crushing painfully against her. The last thing she saw was the Doctor's face reassuring her as she was lowered to the ground and succumbed to darkness.


	15. Chapter 15

As Rose regained consciousness, one single thought occupied her mind which she vocalised as she abruptly sat up and cringed at the bright light of an unfamiliar infirmary.

"I spend way too much of my time unconscious these days." Her attention was drawn to the corner of the room by a loud chuckle.

"What are you doing here, where's the Doctor, what have you done with im'?" She demanded dropping off the opposite side of the gurney unsteadily, eyes darting between the man in the corner and Riven who stood guard by the door.

"I have done nothing," The Danin smiled, understanding her suspicion in light of recent events. "He has gone to check on your ship and should return shortly."

"Good," She nodded slightly relieved, closing her eyes as something in the back of her mind pulsed silver and blue, a gentle reassurance from The Doctor and the TARDIS. "That's good."

"He is in your mind?" The Danin queried intrigued.

"Yea," Her eyes opened in an instant and regarded him cautiously. "And?"

"And," He emphasised, raising himself from his seat. "I am merely attempting to ascertain how the Tribunal could possibly have overlooked something as significant as a telepathic bond."

"Yea well," She snorted, "When you find out whose mucked us about you let me know cause I gotta mouthful for em'."

"Different species," The Doctor directed his ramblings at the Danin as he stepped around Riven and strode into the room banana in one hand, and a change of clothes in the other which he handed to Rose. "Bond's virtually undetectable."

"He knew it though." Rose nodded towards the Danin.

"Yes, but only after he'd met us and knew what I was." The Doctor spoke around his mouthful. "Plus I told you before, you human's project too loudly. Almost gave me a headache."

"Do not." She muttered looking down at the clothes in her hands curiously raising an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He frowned. "You chundered across the flight deck of a Leviathan, showers that way." He nodded towards the door behind the Danin.

"Oh yea," She looked towards the Danin, "Sorry Danin, um your majesty, look what is your name? Not real good with pleasantries me, and considerin' the current state I'm in cause of ya-" She glared and he raised his hands to calm her.

"I am Dominic Asvaldur Frey Desturia, Danin of the Imperial Galaxial Alliance, Lord of the Spiral." He introduced himself properly causing her to glare even more.

"Yea?" She replied unimpressed, inclining her head towards the Doctor who smirked, "Well he's the Lord of Time."

"Indeed," He replied, marvelling at her loyalty and devotion he smiled. "Please call me Dominic." He offered her his hand in greeting.

"Dame Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth." She replied shaking his hand. "Call me Rose."

"Nice to meet you Rose," He grinned. "My Commander you've met already but since this is now a formal introduction, I present Lady Riven Elaura D'Natalia Princess of the Southern Provinces of Xenyphialuna, Fourth Moon of Treroess."

"Just Riven is fine," She stepped forward with a roll of her eyes and shook Rose's hand before she bowed slightly at the Doctor. Their eyes locked for a brief moment in a sort of recognition until Rose noticed the familiar twitching of his fingers and so diverted her attention.

"Thanks by the way," Rose began, the Doctor prising the sonic from his breast pocket and flicking it over her briefly before returning to his suite jacket. "For before I mean." The other woman smiled.

"You're thanks is unnecessary, but you are welcome." She turned to the Danin.

"My Lord, I must retire to rest, I bid you all a good evening." He nodded returning his attention to the Doctor, she hesitated slightly in the doorway with an expression which Rose thought to be more akin to longing before she disappeared. The sidelong look the Doctor shot her seemed to confirm her suspicions.

"Well then," Clapped the Doctor as he ushered Rose towards the bathroom door. "Now we've all met properly off you go, I'll wait out here." She glanced at him warily.

_I'll be fine, we're safe._ He whispered to her mind and she nodded before reluctantly disappearing into the bathroom off the infirmary.

The Doctor and Dominic regarded each other for a long moment.

"She is remarkable." Dominic shook his head smiling. "Where ever did you find her?"

"It's a long story." The Doctor muttered as he moved from the ensuite door and turned to evaluate the scans they had performed while Rose was unconscious. However he was more curious to the origins of Riven rather than his companions condition, he had been monitoring that himself and she appeared no worse for wear than she had before they'd left save for the nausea. But there was something familiar about Riven, he was sure he'd met her kind before, and that buzzing in the back of his mind right beside the links between the two ships. It was almost as if she were trying to read him, gain access but oh-, but that was it wasn't it. In the time it took him to turn he had narrowed down her heritage to a small cluster of outer rim worlds, he just needed one final peice of information then he'd know for sure. But first things first.

"Now," He levelled his gaze on the Danin. "How do you propose we deal with this very delicate situation? Because I know what I'd like to do, what I should do, but I'm willing to give you the opportunity for it to not come to that. And so is she." His head jerked towards the bathroom door.

"What would you suggest Doctor," Dominic sighed, "These a very unfortunate circumstances indeed."

"There is a possibility that the cell would survive a transplant into a compatible host." The Doctor mused.

"It would not matter," Dominic flopped back into his seat. "The cells rupture within hours of implantation even while in stasis."

"Oh?" the Doctor replied vaguely, his eyes unmoving surveying the blank wall in front of him.

"Yes, OH," Dominic agreed warily. "Your friend has been successful in holding the implantation, but I fear that has more to do with you rather than her biology."

"How did you know?" He eyed him suspiciously out of the corner of his eye.

"That you were holding it in place?" Dominic chuckled and a dark shadow crossed his features. "Since FTL, the temporal ignition would have released it. I-I am glad you did, it had completely slipped my mind and my son-"

"The cell would have perished along with her." The Doctor stared knowingly back at the haunted expression on Dominic's face, slipping his hands in his pockets and resting back against the wall. "I would never let that happen to her."

"No, of course not." He agreed, eyes slipping closed as he cringed. "And therefore there is no other choice Doctor. It must be purged."

"I can fix the genetic anomaly," The Doctor added conversationally. "The sterility I mean, it's as simple as resplicing a genome here and there. A slight readaptation to your DNA sequencing."

"If it were that simple then why could my people not cure it?" He narrowed his eyes at the Doctor.

"Well let's face it your people aren't me are they, and I'm brilliant," He drawled crossing his arms smugly. "Plus they were purposely trying to sabotage you."

"What?" Dominic whispered in disbelief. "How could you possibly know this?"

"Because," The Doctor spun the monitor towards him pointing to a particular section of nucleotides. "There is only thing that can cause this type of mutagenic degeneration in your species."

"I maybe a little rusty at genetics, but from what I can recall, I've never seen anything like it." Dominic gazed at the spiralling double helix on the monitor and the scrolling texts of chemical compositions. "What is it?"

"Arsenic." The Doctor replied, "To Humans it's lethal, but to you, it's altering your genetic structure, fracturing it making it virtually impossible to stabilise the genetic encoding in your chromosomes." He scanned Dominic with the sonic briefly and returned to the monitor, inserting the screwdriver into a small port.

"Can you really reverse it?" He queried coming to stand by the Doctor as he worked.

"I just did." He murmurred.

"What species is your Commander?" He questioned suddenly.

"Riven?" He threw the Doctor a confused expression. "Um, well, we don't know really, she was adopted into our family when I was about Seventy, abandoned afloat by the docks in Silverwall as a baby. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Hmmm," The Doctor mused glancing at the sonics findings with a raised eyebrow. "She's Lethurian."

"What?" Dominic sat forward bracing himself on the arms of the chair. "But that's impossible,"

"As impossible as me?" The Doctor quirked his lip. "Trust me, when I say that 'impossible' is a word I choose to ignore these days. Rose and I are practically the definition of the term." He murmured, returning his attention to the med-screen.

"How can you be sure Doctor?" Dominic stood and began pacing. "To my people Lethurian's were a legend said to have evolved from a distant remnant of Sol 3. They were said to be humans once upon a time."

"Indeed," The Doctor agreed, "From a time long ago, they were scholars and craftsmen, natural scientists. But they left Earth in the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution disgusted them, so they took to the stars. Found themselves a nice uninhabited planet and settled in. They're still remembered on Earth, but only as a work of fiction. Elves they called them. Funny that, I told Rose we should go visit Tolkien just before all this mess started."

"You said they found a new home world Doctor," Dominic queried. "Perhaps we could take her home, find her kin. I know what it would mean to her to know her origins."

"They called it Tol Eressëa, the Undying Lands." He frowned, perhaps Tolkien was better travelled than he had imagined. "Valinor. In the Delta Quadrant of the Aman Cluster."

"Then there is nothing of her world remaining." Dominic breathed, "Almost One Hundred Solar Cycles ago it was deemed abandoned, desolate, devoid of all life. But I had no idea that it was the Lethurian Homeworld. How do I tell her that her entire planet, her species was wiped off the face of the universe?"

"Oh there are small colonies on the outer arms of Mutter's Spiral. They'll always carry on in one way or another. They're Human descendants remember, they swarm the galaxy for Millennia." He replied quietly, inserting the screwdriver into another panel. Dominic slumped back down into his chair.

"How long have you been together anyway?" He turned back to Dominic as he set the screwdriver to running a comparison with the records on the ships files.

"I practically helped raise her," He breathed resting his head against the wall behind him, "As of this next Solar cycle she will have reached her first Century. She has been by my side since thirty. My dear Mother would not let her leave before then." He chuckled then sobered quickly. "She has never failed me, I trust her implicitly, like no other. She has played no part in this treason of my kin." His eyes stayed on the Doctor as he moved slowly to his side and lent against the door frame, leaning forward slightly. He could recognise that sort of devotion, after all if he believed in anything, he believed in Rose.

"And how long have you been lovers?" He asked Dominic gently, his lip quirking slightly.

"We are not Lovers!" Dominic stood to his full height, face inches from the Doctor's. But he did not flinch, if anything his lip curled further into more of a smirk.

"No," He agreed, "But you do love her."

"Well of course I do she's my sis-"

"No," The Doctor stopped him, "It's more than that and you know it."

"Then it is wrong!" Dominic challenged and turned away.

"According to who?" The Doctor countered raising his voice slightly. "Morality? Maybe. Biologically, well it's not really applicable is it, you're not even the same species, but more importantly, have you even asked her? Told her how you feel?"

"Who are you to comment on such things Doctor," Dominic growled turning upon the other man, "He who shares his mind with another, a most sacred bond, but does not share himself or his bed? Who does not claim what is quite obviously his?"

"How is it do you think, that I know that look of desperate longing on Riven's face," The Doctor was before him in an instant, his hackles raised, speaking in almost a whisper. "Because I see the same expression on a face held dearer to me than my life, more precious than Time itself."

"Then you are a fool." Dominic spat.

"No I'm a coward, always have been. When I close my eyes she's all I can see, when we were apart, when I lost her, I could barely see through the grief and it made me irresponsible, irrational. Even now there's a part of me that waits for the universe to rip her away from me again. Being with me will kill her and that terrifies me." The Doctor moved imperceptibly closer. "Your reasons for not following your heart are foolish and arrogant, you're the Danin for Pete's sake, take some initiative!" He gestured wildly as he stepped away from Dominic and returned to the view screen as Rose exited the steaming ensuite.

"Did I miss anything?" She pulled her wet hair back as she came to stand beside the Doctor, handing him back his coat. She took note of the two men before her, both appearing solemn.

"What happened?" She raised an eyebrow at the Doctor who after shrugging his coat back on, appeared thoroughly interested in whatever it was he was working on, back to the Danin who shifted slightly under her gaze and made a move for the door.

"I think I'm going to turn in." He bid them both a good night as he moved through the door. The shrill beep of the sonic stopping him in his tracks.

"Oh well, would you look at that." The Doctor raised an eyebrow but did not turn, directing the comment to the room at large. "Seems like we've found a compatible host."

The Danin stared blankly at the Doctors back for a time before ducking his head and chuckled slightly. And what was that? Was that a blush? Rose couldn't be sure in the poor lighting of the hallway. He gave her a small nod and disappeared.

"What have you been up to Doctor?" Rose nudged him with her shoulder.

"Oh you know Rose," He sighed, a small smile playing at his lips. "Universal Match Maker me."

"Smells like trouble." She groaned, lacing her fingers through his.

"Nah," He extracted the sonic from the monitor with his free hand. "This time, I think I might have just got it right."

He shut down the lights in the infirmary as they left and they meandered down the long corridors of the ship towards their quarters and the TARDIS. Muffled squeals of joy emitted from one of the doors they passed and made them both stop dead in their tracks and laugh quietly. The Doctor grinned down at her, his chest puffed out like a preening peacock.

"Look at you, thinkin' you're impressive again." She nudged him with her shoulder.

"Not thinking Rose, knowing." He eyeballed her seriously for a moment then erupted into one of his ridiculously large grins. His expression changed however when those muffled cries of joy turned into other noises that incited a deep rush of crimson across his face. She rolled her eyes at his obvious embarrassment.

"We should probably just-" Rose thumbed over her shoulder towards their door with a smirk.

"Leave them to it yea." The Doctor finished with a squeak, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he followed quickly after his companion. Rose snorted.

"You're such an old prude." She teased pulling the door.

"Shut up Tyler." He retorted indignantly before slipping into the room behind her.


	16. Chapter 16

The Doctor was laid out on the small bed of their modest quarters, his head resting in Rose's lap, said companion toying with his hair as he thought. They had spent the best part of the last 6 hours searching through the TARDIS data banks for any information regarding the Collective and had thus far come up with nothing. Well nothing aside from what Dominic had already told them, and considering the Danin's currently indisposed position, they thought better of bashing on the door for answers. Perhaps they should consider dropping in on this Universes Shadow Proclamation.

"Maybe we should just go find em'?" Rose muttered. "Surely they're done by now."

"Hmmm?" Came the Doctor's distracted reply.

"Dominic and Riven," She rolled her eyes and pushed him off her lap much to his disappointment, "Come on, we're not gonna get any answers just sittin' round."

"No," The Doctor sighed, "I guess not."

"Yea? You guess. I know," Rose quipped using yet another of his ridiculous responses, holding the door as he pulled his coat on. "Plus I'm starving."

"Should be some sort of kitchen down here," The Doctor trailed ahead peering around all the open doors in the corridor. "Although you could have just eaten in the TARDIS."

"Yea but the crew," Rose replied ducking around a corner ahead of him now. "That's where we'd find out all the nitty gritty stuff, like you always say. Best place to be."

"Is in the kitchen at parties," He opened another door, his eyes glancing over the few occupants in the room before finally settling on Dominic and Riven sitting together around a small table by a large window. His grin was broad. "Right you are Rose Tyler."

The Doctor held the door for her and as he turned almost collected an Ood in his wake.

"Doctor watch out-" Rose grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Oh hello sorry bout' that, I'm the Doctor and this is Rose," He grinned. "And who might you be?"

"I am designated Ood Delta."

"Lovely to meet you Ood Delta." The Doctor beamed. Rose nodded a greeting and moved across the room, pulling out a chair to sit down beside Riven.

"Please sit, friend of the Ood," The Ood's translator flashed as he spoke. The Doctor was almost at the table when the Ood's comment finally registered.

"What did you just say?" The Doctor frowned turning back to him and taking a tentative step closer.

"I am at your service," He replied, "Friend of Oodkind."

"You remember me?" The Doctor breathed raising his eyebrows in wonder.

"Oodkind sing of the DoctorDonna through the multiverse, through the ages we continue to call." He replied before tucking his translator back onto his lapel and moving to fetch refreshments.

"Hold on, what?" He grasped the Ood gently turning him, "What do you mean calling, who are you calling?"

Ood Delta took his translator in hand.

"We were once afraid," Ood Delta replied, "but when she traversed the tangents with fire in her wake we saw her true nature."

"You said the song of the DoctorDonna was calling to her," The Doctor was growing impatient with this species inability to talk in anything but riddles. "But who is she, what is she, who are you calling Ood Delta?"

"Her song is ending and we shall sing your melodies together as one, as it was meant to be."

"I can appreciate that," The Doctor replied impatiently, in his thoughts turning to Donna in the other universe, a vision of her burning flashing briefly in his mind's eye. "Who is she?"

Ood Delta turned towards their table and tilted his head slightly. "She is the Big Bad Wolf."

"No." The Doctor murmured turning abruptly to face his companion, catching her attention. She gave him a small confused smile and he saw, just for a second, gold fleck through her iris. "No-" It was but a whisper, "She isn't- " A trick of the light in her eyes, nothing more.

"You have no reason to fear her Ood Delta." The Doctor assured him. "She's just Rose now."

"Doctor please join us," Dominic called diverting his attention as he gestured to his choice of the remaining seats. He nodded at Ood Delta, releasing a long breath and moved the last few paces to the table.

"Do you drink Tanarus?" Dominic looked up at Rose hopefully.

"What is it?" She frowned as Dominic gestured to the Ood who passed her a small bowl and proceeded to fill it with a steaming liquid before he placed a plate of what appeared to be fruit on the table before them.

"It's tea." The Doctor mumbled slowly dropping himself down into his seat. He took the offered mixture, and sipped it gently, his eyes never leaving his companion over the rim of his bowl. She glanced up at him raising an eyebrow, his unease slowly trickling through her. He attempted a grin and deflected her attention, dampening his thoughts. "Well close enough anyways."

Rose however, wasn't convinced noting his tone didn't quite match his eyes in enthusiasm. The look that followed conveyed to her that this was not the time or place and so she dropped the subject before it had begun.

"Doctor," Riven began. "I wish to thank you, Dominic has told me you know of my people, I finally have a starting point, a means by which to find my family," She paused looking down into her bowl. "Well, should there be any left that is."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more," He nodded taking another mouthful. "At the moment that is anyways. But we'd be more than willing to take you to one of the outer rim settlements once all this business is dealt with."

"I thank you for your consideration," She smiled shyly, "And for your persistence, if you'll permit me, in finally getting Dominic to, well," She glanced away, red tinging her cheeks. "You know."

"Pull his finger out?" Rose quipped just as the Doctor opened his mouth to respond, the beginnings of a smirk directing itself at him as she stuffed a peice of unknown something-or-other into her mouth.

"Yes," Dominic laughed as the Doctor glared at his companion for stealing his thunder, "I do believe that is an appropriate description. My thanks to you both also."

"No problem," Rose smiled at the two of them, hands clasped on the table. "It's sorta what we do, help people, planets, just about everything really if we can. Ain't that right Doctor."

"Exactly." The Doctor beamed proudly despite his previous unease. In that second her joy and love for him bubbled up through their link and he blushed under its intensity.

"You're projecting again." He whispered taking her hand and giving it a quick squeeze.

"Shut up." She laughed softly nudging him with her shoulder. "Besides if you're so concerned about it, maybe you should teach me to shield them? Hmmmm?"

"Probably should now you mention it." He agreed. "You're starting to affect the people around us."

"What?" She turned glancing quickly around them, noticing that the majority of the rooms' occupants were all now in quite intimate proximity to one another. "I'm doing that?"

"We're doing that," He clarified quietly, "You're projecting and I'm inadvertently amplifying it."

"So stop amplifyin' then," She whispered back glancing at Dominic and Riven who appeared to be absorbed in one another. "Don't you have barriers; I thought you could shield your head?"

"Yes well," He replied raising an eyebrow, "You would be the one to bring them all tumbling down now wouldn't you."

"Anyways," The Doctor coughed, bringing their tables' attention back to him. "We need to know what's happened, this is no small feat by any means, caused us to run almost half way across the universe. Where are we even going? What are you planning?"

"We seek advice from a being almost as old as the universe itself." Dominic began, the Doctors ears almost physically perking at the reference. "He too is the last of his kind, he will help us." Dominic took a sip of Tanarus.

"Who?" The Doctor narrowed his gaze at the Danin. "Where?"

"The Creature that God Forgot is rumoured to reside on Arkannis Major." Dominic replied. "Some say he was born as the Isop Galaxy formed and laid claim to the Silver Devastation, others say he is not even of this realm."

"And what do you believe?" The Doctor's tone was casual, but Rose could feel its true weight.

"I believe he can help," Dominic spoke with conviction. "He will make himself known as he always has, when the time is right. When he is needed."

"Then I pray to all the deities of the multiverse that you're right Dominic," The Doctor leant back with a release of a breath, "I really do."

"Commander." Riven brought her wrist to her mouth, pressing a flashing green panel.

"Go ahead."

"We're approaching Arkannis Major now My Lady," Came the response. "What are your orders?"

"Clear us for docking," She replied with a nod from the Danin. "We're going down. But do not disengage the drives until my command."

"Aye My Lady, we've sent word ahead, Nightmare Child cleared for docking, awaiting orders."

"We're on our way." She nodded at Dominic and they stood together moving from the room.

"Looks like it's Volcano day," Rose chuckled uneasily as she stood and followed the Doctor out of the kitchen after Dominic and Riven.

Minutes later they stood before the view screen of the flight deck, the star system coming upon them quickly. Dominic gave the Doctor a pointed look and he nodded as he took his companions hand.

"Disengaging temporal drives," Dominic relayed. "Prepare to bring the Superluminal drives offline. We'll bring her in nice and steady Riven."

"Aye My Lord." She nodded once again taking the smooth orb in hand and prepared to guide the ship.

_"Doctor."_ A warm familiar presence filled his mind along with the rumbled mention of his name. There was only one being that could feel this wrong yet manages to be so incredibly right.

"Boe?" He closed his eyes and slumped slightly. Rose took his weight as he leant heavily against her.

"Doctor?" She frowned, the Danin taking notice of the Doctor's stance.

"What's wrong?" He queried coming to stand beside the man to ease his weight off the small blonde.

"Nobody like him in the entire multiverse, I could never feel it before, not like this." The Doctor murmured.

"Who?" Rose frowned trying to look up into his face.

"The face of Boe," The Doctor almost giggled. "He's in my head."

He felt Rose beside him and without opening his eyes pressed his fingers against her temple.

"Oh," She whispered aloud. "Hello."

The Doctor dropped his hand from her forehead and was still for a time.

_"My friend you are on a dangerous path, something from long ago has arisen."_

Beneath him the Doctor felt the ships engines building, vaguely aware of Riven and Dominic shouting, and Rose speaking.

"It's alright," Rose assured them, "It's him, in his head, Boe's makin' the ship move."

_"What are you doing?"_ The Doctor queried calmly.

_"Calling in the cavalry if you will."_

"What?" He whispered aloud, his confusion evident.

"Where going to jump!" Dominic screamed turning to the Doctor who had yet to come back to their plane of existence.

_"You will require assistance,"_ Boe replied. _"Find him in the night, save him from himself."_

_"Who? Where?"_

_"The Thirteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade. But you must hurry."_ He urged. _"And I am sorry, so very sorry."_

_"For what?"_ The Doctor frowned.

"DOCTOR!" Dominic bellowed. "Wake up, we're about to-"

_"For this."_ Boe replied cryptically and he was gone. And time sped up once more.

The Doctor was momentarily blindsided as Rose screamed through him, it took him several moments before he clamped down on their link so his brain could function once more. Dominic and Riven turned from their purchase against a console as he regained his equilibrium and dragged himself to her side, pressing his fingers gently to her temples then releasing her head he ran a hand down her body stopping over her abdomen, retrieving the sonic with his other hand.

"What happened Doctor?" The Danin held her head as the ship shuddered once again and Rose curled up, hand clutching at her belly.

"The cells divided," He replied angrily, "She's pregnant. Oh Boe what have you done?"

"The ship was pulled from its trajectory." Riven slipped her knees under Rose's head rather than the hard floor.

"She's unstable." The Doctor ground out running the sonic over her once again. "Her vitals are already straining against the increase in hormones. It's feeding off her life force."

"We need to put her in stasis." Dominic supplied, gripping the console tightly as the ship rolled. Rose screamed once more.

"No," He replied, lifting his companions screaming body into his arms, heading for their quarters and the TARDIS doors. "We need to get that thing out of her."

"I should have taken her inside to begin with the TARDIS would've shielded her from the drop. I should have been paying attention!" He growled.

"My Lord." Riven's voice came of his com.

"Not now Riven," He snapped following the Doctor down the hallway.

"But my Lord we're approaching something." She replied, the Danin's eyes flicking to the Doctor who was kicking at his ships doors.

"Oh don't you do this to me now." He scolded the ship who refused to open her doors.

"Where are we Riven?" He spoke to the commander through his wrist com.

"Spacial co-ordinates right ascension seven hours twenty-nine minutes two point six-nine seconds, declination thirteen degrees fourteen point four-eight point four Trels." She replied. "It appears to be some sort of Nebula but we have nothing on record."

"Oh well that's just great!" The Doctor shouted sarcastically. "Open up!" He cried mid kick at the blue panelling.

"Doctor!" Dominic shouted. "Do you know where we are?"

"You let us in right now," He growled, "SHE'S DYING!"

"Doctor!" He tried once more, forcefully this time.

"WHAT!" He turned, the full fury of the Oncoming Storm staring back at him, the air around him crackling. He took a step away from the man before him, taking a small breath to regain some semblance of composure.

"Do you, or do you not, know where the hell we are?" He breathed, eyes flickering between the dark orbs of the Doctors to the failing blonde in his arms.

"We're in the Medusa Cascade." The Doctor ground out.

"My Lord we're getting some strange readings up ahead." Riven came over the com once more. "The ship is uneasy, she's becoming agitated, we're losing control, what are your orders."

"Tell her to cut the temporal drives, they won't work here, only cause more interference." The Doctor sighed angrily giving the TARDIS door another kick and turning back out into the hallway. "Tell her to head for the Thirteenth Moon."

"Where are we taking her?"

"Sir!" Riven shouted.

"Do as he says." The Danin breathed. "Cut the engines, prepare for docking. We're on our way. Desturia out."

"Aye Sir." Riven replied and the com shut off.

"Rose needs help and since the TARDIS won't cooperate I need to find somewhere that will." The Doctor was ranting over his shoulder towards Dominic.

"What are you talking about?" The Danin rounded on him stopping his progression to the bridge.

"Get out of my way." Growled the Doctor.

"That's my son I hope you remember." Dominic snapped, eyes flashing to Rose's stomach.

"And he's killing her," Snarled the Doctor, "She's going to the planet below where there might just be someone that can save her. She's all I have and I will not lose her again!"

After a few moments the Danin nodded in resignation and followed quickly behind the Doctor who barged passed him, cradling Rose's small frame to his chest, soothing her body and mind with his as much as he could.

"Stay with me please." He begged as he shifted her slightly in his arms so he could input co-ordinates into the transmat. He swallowed past the taste of bile in the back of his throat as the five of them landed inside a white room with a green crescent emblem etched into the floor. The Doctor was a flurry of movement as he directed the hospital staff this way and that before laying Rose down onto yet another gurney and pressing his fingers to her temple as his other hand splayed gently under the hem of her shirt across her bare abdomen. His eyes were tight and a few moments later more of Rose's screams filled the air. And then they were gone, disappearing down a hallway into another room, leaving Dominic and Riven to watch the space they had occupied helplessly.

* * *

Hours seemed to pass and still they had seen nothing of the Doctor, unsure of the events unfolding a few rooms away, but when the screaming of their friend could no longer be heard they sat together for the longest time, a tear slipping down Riven's face. She would not cry she told herself, would not assume the worst. She stood, moving slowly towards the bank of glass on the far wall.

"What is it?" Riven breathed, placing a hand on the observation window as she gazed into the maelstrom before them, not noticing the Doctor approach quietly from behind, his voice soft and weary.

"A planetary nebula in what your descendants referred to as Gemini." He pointed to a star on the outer edge of the screen. "That's Canis Minor over there, and that," He nodded ahead. "Is what's known as the Medusa Cascade."

"What's that in the centre?" She pointed towards the rippling wake.

"A hole in the fabric of reality," The Doctor replied, closing his eyes tightly as he took a deep breath. "An inter-dimensional rift in time and space."

"Is that even safe?" Dominic whispered coming to stand beside him.

"Oh definitely not," He replied opening his eyes as he raised his brow, "I've closed it twice now. Killed me the first time. Second time, well, all depends on which way you look at it." His thoughts turned to his other self. Davros and this place had led to him losing Rose again, so in a way it was like dying. He knew his pain as if it were his own, had felt it up until the walls had sealed themselves, then again as he bound himself to Rose.

In the recesses of his mind he could hear the voice of Evelina whispering away.

_"Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself"._

"Doctor," Riven grasped his arm gently. "How is she?"

"Alive." He breathed giving her a small smile.

"You look like you're about to fall over," She noticed his eyes were sunken and his skin paler than before, "Are you alright."

"I'll be fine," He assured her, "Rose, um, well universal blood donor me, she needed a little more than I would have thought. It's alright though; I'll bounce back in a few hours."

"I'm sorry," Riven glanced at Dominic briefly; she had seen what the Doctor was doing, had known he had no choice, knew how dire the circumstances had become. He flopped down into a chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

"She'll live that's all that matters," He dragged his hands down his face, "I, I couldn't save your son," His eyes flickered to Dominic. "I'm sorry I-"

"Don't be." Dominic replied gently. "Things must happen in their own time." The Doctor nodded.

"So what happens now?" Riven questioned sitting down beside him.

"We wait," The Doctor lent back to rest his head on the wall. "It's all we can do. She'll heal but it'll take some time."

"Then we shall wait also," The Danin agreed depositing himself on the Doctor's other side. "We have not been followed for the time being, it will be safe to linger a while."

"You two should probably go and get some rest then," The Doctor encouraged. "No use us all being exhausted."

"And you're no good to her if you're dead on your feet either." Riven remarked.

"I have to find someone first," The Doctor sighed, "Boe sent us here for a reason."

"And you know where to find this being?" Dominic raised an eyebrow.

"Sort of," Replied the Doctor his lip rising to an almost smile.

"Then we shall go for a time," Dominic nodded and stood taking Riven by the hand, as the Doctor waved them off. They disappeared in a flash of the transmat and he was grateful for the peace and quiet. He loath to leave the hospital, but time would not wait for him, bend to him and so, with resignation he pushed himself to his feet and after looking in on his now sleeping companion strode to the end of the corridor and out into the night.

* * *

As the Doctor disappeared from sight, two cloaked figures quietly stepped out from the shadows.

"Are you sure about this?" A soft female voice queried as they moved into the small room Rose occupied; slowly pulling the door closed and approaching her from either side.

"Yes, I am." A man replied, "It is time."

He opened a small vile, pouring its flickering contents over the frail blonde woman before them. They waited silently as her colour returned, and when all was done the man held out the vile and once its occupants returned, he placed it back into the safety of his robes. Violet eyes met iridescent blue, and with a small nod they vanished in a vortex of white.


	17. Chapter 17

_The Forgotten_

_With a gasp, a broken, bitter man hauled himself up against the brickwork of a damp, dark alley, hiding in the shadows with his hand clasped pitifully to the gash in his side. He could see the blood pooling deep beside him, gushing now from his wound, but he could not bring himself to care, he had been here before and sighed almost gratefully as the first signs of unconsciousness began to blur his vision. Death would soon follow he knew it, welcomed it and turning his eyes to the heavens above, silently prayed to every deity in the universe that he knew of to let him remain so. He slumped further down the wall; the last thing his weary eyes beheld before life receded from his body was a scuffed pair of white trainers and a flash of brown. It was comforting he thought, for his mind to have chosen that memory as his last. In those final moments it felt as if he were floating away from the dark stench of the alley and he smiled as death consumed him, again. _

* * *

The Doctor searched endlessly through the city for a sign, anything to guide him in this quest which so far had almost cost his companion her life and his sanity along with it. His frustration grew as hour after hour he turned up empty handed. Finally, he slumped down onto a bench, sitting amongst the garbage littering this shadowy region of space and time and sighed, taking his head in his hands.

Across the way a figure stumbled into a collection of rubbish cans, the sounds of the commotion drawing the Doctors attention. He watched as the helpless soul leant heavily against the brick wall leaving a trail of blood in his wake. He stumbled again but held himself long enough to disappear into the shadows of a nearby alley.

"Oh Jack Harkness, you impossible thing you." The Doctor grimaced, shaking his weary head in disbelief.

He pushed himself up from his seat, slowly making his way across the street to stand quietly leaning against the entrance to the alley, watching as the broken body of his friend lay dying against the cold wall of a derelict building surrounded by refuse. As the final signs of life left his body, the Doctor gently pulled him over his shoulder and carried him away. He may have died alone. But he would not return to existence that way.

* * *

When Jack returned to the land of living it wasn't, much to his surprise, like a single other he had experienced. Air flowed easily into his empty lungs as opposed to the rush of life and pain he had become accustomed to. He felt and smelt clean, and was dry and warm while vaguely being aware of a presence gently retreating from his mind. He flinched at the bright light of the room as he opened his eyes slightly, trying to push himself up with his elbows only to be halted by a set of deceptively strong almost warm hands.

"Easy does it," Came a familiar voice from his right. "You're safe just relax."

"Now I know I'm dead," Jack laughed half-heartedly, opening his eyes fully now they had adjusted to the light. A gorgeous brown mop of hair and matching eyes greeted him with warmth and apology.

"Now why would you think that?" He smirked raising his eyebrow slightly as he took a step back and slipped his hands into his trouser pockets.

"You died." He replied simply.

"Did I?" His lip quirked a little more and he turned towards the blonde pile of hair in the bed beside Jack's, gently twisting a delicate strand between his fingers.

"Well I just sort of assumed," Jack grinned slightly, "You seemed a little morose last time I saw you in that bar."

"Hmmm," The Doctor murmured. "Tell me Jack, do you have any idea where you are?"

"Well the Cascade kinda gives it away, but as for where exactly and when? Nope, not a clue," He replied lifting his arms to rest under his head. "Last thing I remember before the alleyway was San Helios, the Planet not the City, got a lift on a freighter and next thing I knew after we landed was the inside of a wormhole, space, death, falling, death, you know the usual."

"Bit of a rough spot lately then?" The Doctor breathed leaning back against the gurney he stood guard by.

"Yea, kind of an understatement really," Jack agreed turning to observe his friend once more. "So who is she?" His eyes flashed a hint of anger as he glanced at the blondish brown cascade of hair occupying the next bed

"Was that disapproval Jack Harkness?" The Doctor observed with a smirk. He was already ahead of Jacks misconceptions.

"Was she that replaceable Doctor?" Jack shot him a glare but spoke softly so as not to wake the other woman.

The Doctor calmly pushed away from the gurney and approached Jack's side.

"I appreciate your concern and loyalty to Rose, but really Jack, what type of man do you take me for?" The Doctor leant in closer, folding his arms across his chest, eyes burning into the other man. "Neither one of us could ever replace her."

"But you left her," Jack snapped. "Mickey and Martha said they saw you alone. You left her again didn't you!"

"No," He shook his head gently, "I didn't."

Jack frowned and stared deeply into the depths of the Time Lords eyes as he raised a single eyebrow with a smirk.

"You're the other one," Jack realised. "The other Doctor."

"Very good." The Doctor praised stepping back to lean once more against the opposite bed.

"But that means-" He stuttered. "This is the parallel, and that's-" His eyes shot to the woman beside him and he sat up throwing back the blanket covering him, sliding from the bed to cross the small space that separated them. A smile crept over his face as he gazed down upon the familiar, yet slightly pale features of yet another dear friend.

"Rosie." He laughed softly. It was then that he noticed the monitor she was connected to and indeed the nature of the place which he had woken up in.

"This is a hospital," Jack glanced between the two of them. "What happened to her?"

The Doctor slowly reached out just short of Jack's temple, pausing until the other man nodded his consent. He filled Jack in on the last week or so of their lives. A few minutes later Jack gasped as the Doctor pulled his palm back, returning it to his pocket.

"Wow," Jack chuckled attempting to lighten the mood. "Been busy then." The Doctor rolled his eyes and Jack reached out to touch Rose's cheek gently. She stirred at his touch.

"Doctor," Her small gasp gained his complete attention, Jack swiftly pulling his hand back, concern twisting his features. "Ending, burning, falling, all of it falling."

"Rose?" He frowned and placed a hand firmly on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.

"The black and pitch and screaming fire, souls burning, Doctor." She whimpered.

"Rose, what is it," He held her with both hands now. "What are you seeing?"

"They killed him, he killed him, saved them all, all those souls, just children." Tears slipped from her closed eyes.

"I don't think she's conscious Doc?" Jack took a step back, her words hitting too close to home.

"The Seer, she see's. Millions die every second, lost in bloodlust and insanity, Time resurrecting them to find new ways of dying, over and over again. Time's bleeding."

"Rose, come on," He urged pulling her up so she was leaning against him.

"I could do so much more," She wept head lolling from side to side her hair veiling her face," So much more, but this is what I get my reward - it's not fair!"

"Rose," He shouted shaking her almost violently. "Wake up!"

"I bet you're going to have a really great year." She whispered then lurched forward in his grasp, eyes wide.

"He's gone." Her voice fractured. "I saw you, you-"

"Shhh," He soothed pulling her against his chest despite their awkward position.

"He, he-" She couldn't put it into words, roughly grabbing his hand and pressing his fingers against her temple, pushing the memory against him. He gasped as the timelines she had witnessed from the other universe as Jack had touched her flooded his mind. He almost buckled to the floor only to be held in place by Jack's arm around him, the memory filtering down through him causing a sharp intake of breath. The Doctor nodded his thanks and looked back to Rose who had yet to pull her face from his chest.

"I'm so sorry Rose," He whispered into the top of her hair. "I didn't realise it would happen so soon. For us anyway, who knows how long it had been for him."

"He didn't wanna go," She sniffed into his shirt. "It hurt Doctor."

"I know, I know. Every time." He murmured, holding her and stroking her hair for a long few moments as her breathing evened. He moved her away slightly and took her face in his palms, wiping away her tears as his mind soothed her.

"Hello," He greeted softly. "Welcome back by the way."

"Hello." She gave him a small watery smile in response, eyes darting and widening at the face just behind his.

"Hiya Gorgeous." Jack beamed.

"Jack!" She cried, the Doctor helping her sit up against the pillows only to be practically dragged across her along with Jack behind him as she pulled them into a hug and refused to let go.

"Easy on," Griped the Doctor extricating himself from between the other two before pulling Jack off her gently. "You're not a hundred percent yet so just be a little careful alright. And considering the memory cascade you just experienced, just take it easy ok?"

"Yes Doctor," Rose teased glancing around the room then sobering, "Where are the other two? Is Dominic alright, I mean I know what happened, saw it while you were in my head."

"Relax Rose," He smiled a little sadly taking her hand, "He understood what had to be done. They've gone to get a little rest before we go."

"Yea sure." Rose snorted, "Resting, that's what they're doing." She was glad Dominic harboured no ill will for either of them too. Her eyes searched the table beside her as she wiped away the last traces of her tears while not letting go of the hand held in her own.

"You're right," The Doctor mused, "At the rate they're going the new Danin should be on its way before we know it. Should probably look into that, can't have an illegitimate heir now can we."

"So," Jack smirked reaching for his belongings on the chair beside Rose's bed, "You're new friends; I'd like to meet them."

"Those friends," The Doctor added pointedly, "Are the Spiral Galaxy's Royal Family and no, you can't join them."

"Aww come on Doc," He crooned, shrugging on his long coat. "Don't be this way."

"Stop it Jack." He warned only to be jarred this way and that by the hand attached to his. "Rose what are you looking for?" The Doctor queried from behind her as she continued her almost frantic search through the items on the table before turning quickly to face him.

"I'm starving," Her stomach groaned its agreement; "Don't they feed people in this place?"

"You've only just regained consciousness, you shouldn't even be awake yet let alone walking around or eating, how that's even possible right now is beyond me."

Her eyes narrowed in on him as he spoke, more specifically his pockets. Her mind made up, she began accosting him, searching through the dimensionally transcendental fabric of his trousers.

"Oi careful," He protested fidgeting about, "He he, Stop that it tickles!"

"Why Doctor," She smirked halting her search, "Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

The Doctor blushed furiously, his mouth hanging open at her rather brazen remark, especially while she still had her hands in said pockets.

"Um?" Came the high pitched response.

His eyes stayed glued to hers as she pulled the item from his trousers, stripped the offending fruit and took a bite. He gulped audibly and pulled at his tie to relieve the pressure around his dry throat.

"Oh you two are just adorable." Jack clapped. "Although I would've thought surely by now you two-"

"Jack." The Doctor shot him a warning glance.

"Just sayin' Doc." He grinned as he swaggered past them. "I'll just wait out here while you get dressed Rosie. Not that that isn't a good look for you." He nodded towards her backside.

Rose was suddenly aware of the gaping hole in the back of the hospital gown she was wearing. Jack was wiping a tear of laughter from his eye as he closed the door virtually silencing the sounds of Rose yelling.

"Bloody Time Lord," She blushed angrily flinging her hoodie at him, "Can see the bloody future but forgets to tell me my bum's hangin' out!"

She was sure she heard a giggle from the man under her hoodie as she pulled her jeans on under the gown and turning away from him, abandoned said offending item and pulled on her shirt before ripping the pink fabric off his head with a glare.

"I'm sorry," He smiled. "I really didn't realise."

"Shut up." She blushed again.

"I have seen it all before you know." He added stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It's not like your biology is any big secret."

"I'm well aware of that," She glared pulling on her trainers. "But Jack hasn't, and shouldn't, I'm not, I don't-" She stuttered then tried to calm her blush as she tripped slightly. "Some things should NOT be seen, except in cases of emergency obviously, but definitely not by- bloody-"

"By what Rose?" He chuckled shaking his head at her rambling as he held the door for her. She stopped in the doorway not meeting his eyes.

"Anyone else," She finished quietly, eyes flickering to his then away again. "For you, no-one else."

"I-" He began.

"It doesn't matter," She moved out into the hall.

"Rose wait-" He tried catching her arm gently.

"It's ok," She turned walking backwards away from him to join Jack. "Even if you don't wanna, even if we're not the same, there's no-one else for me. Never has been. Never will."

"Oh," He nodded dubiously, they'd never talked about this, "Good, that's- good."

"Nevermind," She rolled her eyes with a sigh and he watched her walk away from him. She stopped after a few steps and turned, giving him her version of the you-just-drooled-on-your-shirt' look.

"Well come on," She urged impatiently. "I'm starving."

"Right, course," He caught up to her and they met Jack in the foyer. With a buzz of the sonic they were standing back on the flight deck of the Leviathan beside a very intense looking couple.

"Well hello," Jack smirked waggling his eyebrows. Doctor coughed loudly but nothing seemed to get their attention.

"Oi you two," Rose snapped, she was frustrated enough, she could do without seeing the two of them gettin' it on, "Get a room."

Dominic and Riven stepped away from each other quickly.

"You know I know another cute couple that didn't even realise they were transma-"

"Shut up Harkness," Rose and Doctor simultaneously cut him short.

"My apologies Doctor-" Dominic began.

"Apologise? What would you apologise for?" Both his eyebrows rose into his hair. "You're the Danin, it's your ship, do what ya please as far as I care, just shift off the navigation panel before you send us Rassilon knows where."

"Quite right," The Danin chuckled shifting so the Doctor could set co-ordinates. "Where do we go from here Doctor?"

"Shadow Proclamation." He replied eagerly handing over navigation to Riven. "They're not far so it seemed the logical conclusion, we need information and who else has their fingers in so many metaphorical pies. Should reach them in a few hours."

"Can you not take your ship?" Riven enquired. "I'm assuming with your title, it does travel in time, would it not be faster?"

"Can't use the TARDIS," He slipped his hands into his pockets. "We're already apart of events, can't risk disrupting the time line."

Dominic nodded his agreement, the temporal engines of the Nightmare Child were nothing compared to a TARDIS, but they would permit them to shave off a few hours of the journey, and would not interfere with nor create a paradox or other such temporal events, of that he was sure. His attention turned to their new companion.

"And who might you be?" He held out his hand to Jack.

"Captain Jack Harkness." He saluted and Dominic removed his hand to return it. "At your service."

"Jack," The Doctor warned, but Jack waved him off with a smile.

"So you are the one Boe sent us to find?" Dominic inquired assisting the Doctor as he spoke.

"Boe?" Jack replied curiously.

"As in Face of," The Doctor supplied flicking another switch as he twirled to face him.

"Wait, what?" Jack replied. "Seriously? But how is that even possible he's not from-"

"No one knows where he's from," The Doctor supplied giving Jack a knowing glance. "Nor what he can do. He sent us here, to you. Who are we to argue?"

"Normally you'd be the first," Rose quipped quietly from behind Jack's shoulder and he snorted.

"Oi." The Doctor's superior hearing also catching the stab and he poked his tongue at her. He almost choked at the responding mental suggestion involving said tongue.

"You alright Doctor?" She frowned.

"Yes," He squeaked, "Course, I'm fine, just, need a glass of water. Bit of a dry throat coming on." He continued, absently wetting his lips with his tongue.

Rose caught the movement but turned away as her cheeks coloured once more. Unfortunately now she was broadcasting, despite not actually realising it, so intensely that even Jack blushed, letting out a long breath. She looked at him as if he were slightly mental.

The Doctor, realising now what was happening, barraged his mind with shields so the effect wouldn't pass on to the rest of the ship who were now dashing about preparing for departure.

Jack sucked in another deep breath and took a few steps away from her to lean against a panel. The Doctor joined him a few moments later and then finally Rose who had been completely oblivious to what had happened.

"Wow," He breathed staring unbelieving at Rose.

"Yea." The Doctor replied likewise.

"What?" Rose frowned noticing the identical looks on their faces.

"You can teach her to shield that right?" Jack asked huskily.

"Yup." He squeaked.

"What are you two on about?" Rose questioned, not at all impressed they were ignoring her completely.

"Probably should do it soon," Jack added. "How can you not wanna-"

"Oh just stop." The Doctor groaned, dragging his hand through his hair. "This is hard enough as it is." His eyes widened at his unintentional pun.

"Wow Doc"-

"Not one word." He ordered. "Don't you dare!"

"Right," Rose demanded rounding on the two them, expression reminiscent of her mother's pre-slap glare. "You tell me now, what's all this about."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and leant forward to whisper in her ear exactly what she had subconsciously suggested, and the thoughts that had immediately followed it. Her eyes went wide the same time she tinged two shades darker. Jack was fanning himself as he crumpled to the floor with a smirk plastered on his face. She was sure her head might just explode from all the blood rushing to her cheeks and neck.

"Oh." She whispered as he pulled back to lean against the wall, still not entirely unaffected himself. "And um, Jack too?"

"Yup," He breathed.

"Enough imagery to keep me happy for another few decades." He smirked. Rose paled.

"What about them?" She tilted her head towards Dominic and Riven as well as the rest of the Sentries occupying the flight deck.

"No, no," The Doctor replied reaching out to take her hand. "I've applied a few more barriers just to be safe."

"Right," She groaned. "Embarrassed doesn't really cut it now does it."

"Probably should," She swallowed, continuing but avoiding the Doctor's gaze, "Might be a good time to teach me to um, you know- stop doin' – that-"

"Definitely." The Doctor and Jack agreed simultaneously.

"Way too distracting Rosie." Jack added with a chuckle not bothering to move from the floor.

She leant on the wall trying to obscure herself behind the Doctor in the fold of his long coat, groaning her embarrassment into his shoulder. She felt him chuckle and Jack laughed, loud and genuine.

"Shu' up." She mumbled into the fabric, closing her eyes as the ship jumped to FTL.


	18. Chapter 18

_Thank you to all my lovely reviewers, sorry this next chapter has taken so long. Another one will be up for you in the next day or so! xoxo Happy Easter just in case I don't get another opportunity._

* * *

Rose sat on the lounge in the Library brooding, the Doctor watching her closely as he leaned casually against the door frame. She was staring up at the open ceiling, planets and suns sparkling overhead.

"Penny for them?" He spoke softly.

"Hmmmm, oh you know, just thinkin' bout one of the biggest questions of modern science, well Earth science anyways," She sighed, "Are the laws of physics the same everywhere in the universe and throughout its entire history?"

"That depends on your perspective." He replied. "What in particular were you referring to?"

"Chemical Affinity." She shrugged opening her eyes and setting her head back against the sofa.

"Ah," He murmured. He had forgotten that she had studied in his absence; it brought a proud smile to his lips. "The laws of attraction evolved from the laws of affinity, the perceived nature of bodies that have a tendency to attract-"

"Yea," She sighed, "Universal joke that one. At least that's what I think, the whole of creation is laughing at me."

"Don't think like that Rose," He frowned. "Besides wasn't it one of your lot that proposed the "opposites attract" theory, arguing that people are attracted to those whose needs conversely match his or her own."

"I guess we're sorta like the epitome of that yea," She closed her eyes again. "What's wrong with me Doctor?"

"There's nothing wrong with you Rose," He said closing the distance between them and sitting down beside her, gently lifting her chin with a long finger, "It's been a very, how should I say? Hormonal few days, weeks even, not meaning of course to imply that you are at all, you know, but between the drugs and adrenalin-"

"That's not what I mean an' you know it." She interrupted him softly, taking his hand in her lap.

"I know," He murmured, "I just- things happened so fast, we were apart for so long and then we were together again and that is brilliant, more than brilliant in fact, but then you got sick and then you weren't, then you were, well pregnant isn't really sick but that's no longer a variable but the point still stands-"

"You're rambling," She laughed gently, tracing a pattern over the back of his hand.

"Yes I know," He nodded with a small smile, "We're still the same, still you and me, the Doctor and Rose, but we're not, not like we used to be. We're both different, being with you again is more than I ever expected, ever dreamed of in fact. Let alone an attempt at something like this, whatever this is-" He looked down at their entwined fingers. "It's the possibility of a future I don't want to run from." He released an uneasy breath. "I'm an old man Rose-"

"I don't care about that-" She interjected softly.

"No," He shushed her, "I know you don't, it's not about that. I'm not human, to me you're still the alien, your customs, rituals, beliefs have no bearing on me, mean nothing to me, nor in the grand scheme of universal things in fact, I wasn't lying when I said you were all a little backwards-"

"Have you always insulted species when you're nervous or is that new?" She teased.

"My point is that I have to go about certain things a little differently-" He gave her a poignant stare before he continued, however it was at this point that Jack came sauntering into the library and the Doctor made a small impatient noise in the back of his throat.

"We'll finish this discussion later ok?" He whispered. "I promise."

"Yea," She agreed with a smile and a squeeze of his hand.

Jack plopped himself down in the armchair opposite them, resting is boots on the coffee table with a relieved sigh.

"You look decidedly pleased with yourself." The Doctor remarked as he leant back against the sofa pulling Rose with him.

"What can I say," Jack smirked, "This new TARDIS is more than accommodating when it comes to my needs."

"What have you done to our ship Harkness?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Nothin'," Rose laughed leaning against his side. "He's just tryna' rile you up."

"Yea well it's working." He eyed Jack warily.

"Relax Doc," He assured him with a chuckle. "I promise not to corrupt the TARDIS."

"Good," He nodded, returning his attention to Rose. "Now, how about we take care of our little projection problems hmmm, SO, Lesson One: Shielding."

"Oh I love lecture mode Doctor." Jack reclined further back in his chair getting comfortable.

"Maybe if we're really lucky he'll put the sexy specs on." Rose turned with a snort so she could face him as he spoke. The Doctor ignored the small thrill he got from her revelation that she'd named his glasses, and that said name included the word 'sexy'. He cleared his throat and carried on.

"Every species has the ability to create personal energy shields, it's just more prominent in some rather than others. Since we are all energy, a mass of atoms, electron, protons, neutrons and things, shields are simply an extension of ourselves which is bound to the metaphysical and ubiquitous power of the universe."

"Sounds like somethin' outta Star Wars," Rose snorted again earning herself a stern look from the Doctor as he continued.

"May the force be with you?" Jack quipped waggling his eyebrows which caused her to laugh harder and the Doctor to groan and roll his eyes.

"Mental Barriers keep our own energy field closed, safe and contained. The first thing to know is that no one can invade it without permission."

"Which is why you've always asked first," Rose added remembering back to a time on a spaceship in the 51st Century. "Reinette, she had to give her permission before you could enter right?"

"Exactly," He grinned. "You're different though, because of your connection to my past selves, I didn't need yours to enter your mind when you were sick. That permission was transferred down the regenerations. It's why I said you were a familiar; I'd already touched your mind, with your permission, which superseded any further need to request it."

"Oh kinky," Jack hooted.

"Shut up you." Rose tossed a cushion at his face.

"Pay attention children, now our problems are due to an energy leakage, caused by the failure on our part to take actions to protect ourselves. Well with you and Jack anyway. Time Lords are different; we're taught as children how to protect ourselves as a naturally telepathic race linked to the vortex."

"Then how come you're the one amplifying my thoughts if you've got the superior shieldin'?" Rose asked, playfully insulting his superior mental capacity.

"Yes, well," He cleared his throat muttering, "I also said you would be the one to bring my barriers down."

"Oh how the mighty have fallen," Jack quipped.

"Oh please," The Doctor scoffed, "She affects you too."

"So is Jack like you?" Rose asked breaking up their petty disagreement.

"No," The Doctor replied insulted, "Jack was once a Time Agent, similar to Torchwood training they were taught to be slightly psychic, which is why they saw through the psychic paper in Canary Wharf." He swallowed as the memory washed over him and he shuddered. Rose squeezed his hand and he carried on with a nod.

"Jack," He turned his attention to the man, "Is a natural empath, with a touch of vortex from you Rose. He's highly sensitive and compassionate and unfortunately prone to soaking up unwanted energy from others. He unconsciously absorbs the feelings, difficulties or pain of others."

"That explains a bit," Jack mused.

"You need to learn how to shield yourself even while being sympathetic to the problems of another. The idea is to focus your mind and use your senses to experience the shield."

"What bout me?" Rose asked quietly.

"You're human," He turned back to face her, lifting his fingers to her temples, "Jack can follow along, but I'll have to help you a little more Rose."

"Now," He breathed closing his eyes and the other two did as he did, "I want you to quiet your minds, release any stresses or tensions that you feel and relax, that's it nice deep breaths," He pulled Rose's consciousness with him until they stood together surrounded by swirling colours and images, he grinned as she heard his voice both in her mind and with her ears, "Now I want you to find a focal point in your mind, something safe or comforting, a light or place- oh or that," He stammered as she reached out and gently twirled a thread through her fingers. "Just- gently does it."

"Huh?" Jack frowned.

"No not you," The Doctor clarified, opening his eyes briefly to regard her.

"What is it?" Rose asked, "I mean that blue ones the TARDIS, the silver is you but what's-"

"That's us," He replied gently, "The telepathic bond we share."

"Oh," She breathed. "Huh, it's pretty." She smiled as it entwined with her fingers and danced around her in an almost caress.

"How come she gets a telepathic bond?" Jack pouted, made almost impossible by the smirk creeping across his face.

"Because she's persistent, now keep up Jack," The Doctor chastised. "Focus your mind on creating an energy shield using this point, try to see and feel yourself surrounded by a wall of mirrors – around, over and under, all facing out. Use your focus to weave the edges together, sort of like a giant mirror ball, like the ones from the disco era."

The Doctor helped Rose close the smaller gaps between the outer edges of her barriers, smiling as she envisaged the ball enclosing the both of them together.

"The point of this is to have any negative energy reflected back outwards, completely sealed so that nothing can slip through. You have to start slow then build up; forcing a shield up can be just as dangerous as one that is broken." He gently pulled back as her barrier began to take shape. "Start to picture it, the more layers the better. It's also up to you what the shield looks like to another who would try to enter your mind. Jack are you following?"

"Got it Doc." He replied, awaiting further instructions.

"Now comes the tricky part." He frowned. "Choosing what you let through can be difficult, it should be your intention to allow only positive things to pass through both ways, feelings and emotions, images, speech."

"Like what we do?" Rose grinned as she recognised the shape of her barrier.

"Exactly," The Doctor replied smiling, "But in the past I've stabilised the connection, supported your telepathy, with these barriers in place you'll have to make a conscious effort to relax them sufficiently to let me in."

"It won't be too difficult considering you've chosen that link as your focus point, but that in itself can represent a danger of its own."

"How?" Jack asked curious, even more intrigued by this bond they now shared. He was feeling a little left out after all.

"They can use me to get in the Doctor's head." She answered for him.

"Which is why I've erected a few more fail safes just in case." The Doctor added.

"What if I wanna talk to you?" Rose murmured. "You won't hear me now?"

"Not directly, but I'll feel you against the barrier."

"How will you know it's me?"

"See this?" He flashed a brilliant golden tendril across her mind, "That's you. And this," He showed her an iridescent purple stream. "Is Jack."

"How come his looks different?" She asked, a frown gracing her features.

"Fixed point," He replied, "His mental presence reflects his time stream. Yours is a sort of pinky colour."

"So can I talk to Jack too?"

"No," The Doctor replied, "But if we ever had to I could support the three of us."

"Right," He let his fingers fall from Rose's temples and opened his eyes. "Now for a test to see how well we're progressing. You first Jack." The Doctor reached his mind out towards him, encircling his psyche.

"Holy shit," Jack exclaimed, almost physically recoiling away from the storm that raged across what proved to be a weakening barrier. "Oncoming Storm my ass, not even a hurricane comes close-"

"More layers Jack," The Doctor encouraged. "Seal the cracks and remember that nothing can get through if you don't want it to. It's your mind, yours to control, think of the most impenetrable thing you can think of, the strongest and most resilient." Jack pressed layer upon layer against his shield, now only slightly bowing under the pressure from the Doctor.

"Argurantine Titanium, good," The Doctor grinned. "Keep going. Now you've got it."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor pulled back. He was panting and a sheen of sweat had broken across his skin. He chuckled as his breathing returned to normal and he opened his eyes.

"Wow Doc," Jack laughed in relief, "That was- impressive to say the very least."

"What I subjected you to Jack," The Doctor eyed him seriously, "Was a small fraction of my mind. 900 years up here." He tapped his temple. "You couldn't withstand it all."

"Fuck me." Jack muttered, astounded and quite rightly a little terrified.

"Oh so she translates his cursive properly," Rose glared raising an eyebrow towards the ceiling. "Talk about favouritism."

The Doctor focused back on Rose at the sound of her voice.

"You ready?" He asked gently.

"Think so," She fiddled with the hem of her shirt nervously. "Strongest, most impenetrable thing I can think of yea." He nodded and her eyes locked with his. He barely skimmed the surface when he came to an abrupt stop. He swept around her barrier several times but could find no weakness, no seams nor fractures. It gave him a fleeting feeling of both confusion and if he were honest a little bit of loneliness that he couldn't touch her mind that had only minutes before almost wrapped him in the equivalent of a warm blanket. Now he couldn't even see what her barrier looked like. He pressed a little harder, when that proved ineffective he increased the intensity, now passing what he had thrown at Jack.

"I can't reach you." He murmured with a hint of sadness. "I mean I can feel you, but I can't-"

"What?" Jack sat forward to observe more closely.

"Are you helping her?" The Doctor queried the TARDIS, receiving a resounding negative rumble.

"How is that possible," Jack gaped. "You almost tore me apart. Maybe you're just going easy on her."

"Right now, I'm exerting almost twice the pressure I did on you Jack, already thought of that."

"Then how?" Jack came to crouch beside the Doctor whose eyes were almost completely black and now that he was closer he could almost feel the air around them humming.

"I don't know?" He continued to stare into her, forcing his mind against her barriers.

"Could it be from the Satellite 5?" Jack queried. "You said you had to-"

"Different thing entirely," The Doctor answered. "They're a part of the subconscious, they aren't the same. And besides, the memory block wouldn't have any effect on her now they're all inside the barrier, not a part of it."

"God Rosie," Jack glanced towards his friend, eyes almost as dark as the Doctor's with a bottomless quality that almost dragged him in. "How many layers have ya got?"

"Only two." She replied softly with a shrug.

"That's not even possible," The Doctor snorted. "There aren't many forces that can equal a Time Lord mind, no scratch that, there aren't any. I am as good as it gets. I can't even see what her barrier looks like."

"Rosie?" Jack asked, hinting for some clue as to how this small but brilliant woman could keep the thunderous inferno of a Time Lord at bay.

"You said," Rose began with a small smile, "That this is my mind yea, and that all I had to do was think about the most impenetrable thing I could imagine, something resilient, unwavering."

"I did." He nodded, not daring to look away.

"But I didn't have to imagine anything," She continued, "The first of those two things, is this ship. Not even the combined hoards of Genghis Khan could get through those doors you said."

"And the second?" He breathed, frowning.

"Is you," She grinned with a smirk.

"Me?" He scoffed.

"Yup," She popped raising an eyebrow in challenge. She hadn't realised just how affective her barrier would be, she could see him circling her mind, the storm raging around her but it did not break through.

"I don't understand?" The Doctor breathed, he would not impress his entire consciousness against her, but then again he was almost sure she could bare it.

"Not you, you," Rose shook her head as if speaking to a child, knowing smile gracing her lips, "You."

"Nah still not following." Jack dropped to the floor in front of the sofa, the pressure building around them so much so that he had to pop his ears. He glanced briefly towards the ceiling as a tempest of stars swirled was sure if they had been on Earth or any other planet for that matter, then they'd be caught up in a near apocalyptic storm. The Doctor reached towards Rose and pressed his finger to her temple, she blinked a few times but apart from that seemed unaffected.

"Even when I'm actually in physical contact it doesn't react at all." Something else was contributing to this he was almost sure of it, it was something tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't place it.

"One Doctor," Rose replied, tongue caught between her teeth as she flashed images across her barrier.

"Fourteen regenerations," The Doctor finished eyes wide in surprise, hand dropping from the side of her face abruptly. "Blimey that's impressive. You're using me against myself."

"No other mind like it in all the universes you said." She grinned.

"You must be almost exhausted." Jack was astounded.

"She's not expending any mental energy to maintain her barriers," The Doctor responded still quite in awe of his brilliant pink and yellow girl. He couldn't help the proud giggle that bubbled through him.

"How is she doing that?" Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't know." The Doctor sighed happily.

"I don't know how else to explain it," Rose replied. "But if I had to try all I could say is if I believe in one thing, just one." She reached out to mirror his place on her temple against his own. "I believe in you." Her eyes lifted to the ceiling. "Well and her."

"Oh you are brilliant Rose," He giggled again, his mind dancing against hers, now only the slightest ribbon of colour remaining. "Just brilliant."

"You know Doc this three way thing you mentioned sounds kinda interesting," Jack mused, smirk making its way across his features. "Talk about a mind fu-"

"You would think that wouldn't you." The Doctor drawled cutting off yet another profane thought about to be ejected from his friend's mouth.

"You're telepathic Doc," He carried on regardless, "And I've definitely seen at least a hundred other species using that sorta thing during-"

"What's he talkin' about?" Rose frowned looking from Jack's smirk to the Doctor's almost bored expression.

"Sex," The Doctor replied dryly, "What else does he talk about."

"What? Like mind sex?" Rose laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Must be why I enjoy it so much," Jack mused, a filthy expression on his face, "As an empath just think of all the things I've been picking up on. And you," He glanced at the Doctor, "Oh the possibilities, with a mind like yours-"

"I told you to buy me a drink first." The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on," Rose interrupted with a scowl, "What are actually talkin' about like, a sorta, phone/mind sex thing or-"

"I'm talking about the ability to bring someone to their knees with a thought." Jack eyed her seriously, "Tweaking just the right amount of sensory neurons and chemical relays-'

"Much too vulgar display of power Jack." He drawled leaning back into the sofa.

"You are so full of it?" Rose whacked his arm playfully.

"He's been holding out on ya Rosie." Jack waggled his eyebrows.

When she finished giggling she realised the Doctor hadn't responded at all.

"Oh my god you really can." She gaped.

"Weelll," He pulled a face tilting his head slightly, "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Jack laughed. "Lying does suit you Doctor."

"Um, probably?" He offered.

"Nah you're havin' me on." Rose shifted pulling her legs up underneath her.

"How's about a demonstra-"

"You wish Harkness," The Doctor smirked as he launched himself off the sofa towards the doorway.

"Hold on where are ya goin'?" Rose tore after his coat tails as he sauntered along in front of her, Jack following a moment after, "You can't jus drop that an swan off ya know."

"I just did." He replied nonplussed as he ducked into the kitchen and flicked the kettle on.

"How come you never said?" She challenged, fighting a smirk from enveloping her own lips, he turned to lean against the counter with his hands in his pockets.

"You never asked." He raised an eyebrow.

"What else don't I know about you?" She laughed, ducking around Jack as he moved to the cupboard to pull out their mugs for the Doctor.

"Over 900 plus years," The Doctor quipped back condescendingly returning to finishing the tea, "You were bound to find something."

She was slightly taken back by his response, too similar to his original self so very long ago when he said she could stay with him her whole life.

"Oi don't get all condescending with me," She ignored the eye roll and overly dramatic sigh.

"Happy now Jack?" The Doctor shot him an irritated glance as he handed him a mug.

"You're the one who turned it into an argument." Jack snorted.

"You're always talkin' Doctor but you never say anything, all I did was ask, Mr Mysterious, I was a Dad once or Me and Cleopatra-"

"Are you jealous Rose?" He countered regarding her over his tea.

"Only if you shagged them all." She shot back, "Or whatever the hell that thing is Jack keeps goin' on about."

"I haven't shagged anyone!" The Doctor argued back. "Or did you forget, 'So many parts. And hardly used?"

"That was Cassandra, not you." She was shaking as she sat down at the kitchen table not meeting his eyes.

"Where's all this come from anyways?" He kept his voice neutral; he really hated it when she was upset, especially at him.

"I don't know," She mumbled leaning her head on the table, "I just feel-"

"Frustrated-" Jack supplied.

"Angry", She looked up focusing on the mug he put in front of her. "Irrationally angry-."

"At me?" He bit back. "I haven't done anything, you're the one making a big deal out of some perverse notion that slipped outta Jack's mouth."

She looked up at him then, and that's when she realised he didn't get it. Was he dense or what? She'd said to him that if she could she'd carry his children, perhaps he didn't quite catch the implication. Then again in the hospital with the naked only for him remark and the recommendation for further uses of his tongue. She blushed slightly at the memory. Maybe he really was oblivious and her expression softened. Perhaps she'd just have to try a little harder.

The Doctor noticed the sparkle of resolve in her eyes and couldn't help but wish he could hear what she was thinking in that moment.

"No," She finally answered. "Not at you. At the universe yes, for a few things actually, but never you."

"Well," He breathed a sigh of relief, "Good. Glad we got that settled then. For a moment I thought you were gonna turn into ya mother."

"Shut up." Rose murmured rolling her eyes which made him giggle. She stood and dumped her half drunk tea in the sink.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." She smiled from the doorway. "Come get me when we arrive kay?"

"Yea." He breathed returning her smile.

"Cya Rosie." Jack grinned.

"Bye Jack," She replied with a nod.

The two men sat for a time in companionable silence for a long time.

"You know sometimes you two are just the cutest couple." Jack laughed standing to rinse his cup out.

"Are we?" The Doctor mused. "A couple that is?"

"You just had a full blown domestic in the kitchen." Jack laughed leaning against the counter regarding his friend.

"Friends fight all the time, best friends even, but a couple, really?" He frowned and glanced up at the ceiling in thought.

"You two are a couple in every sense of the word Doc, always have been," He replied honestly with a shrug, "Just without the shagging."

"You humans," He shook his head with a sigh, "Why does it always come down to that?"

"Can't help who we are Doc," Jack laughed, "Can't tell me you're beyond it too though. I've seen the way you look at her."

"Of course it's not beyond me," He regarded Jack as if he'd just grown a second head. "There's just a little more to it."

"Then explain it to me," Jack sat back down across from him this time. "Cause it's beyond me how you haven't taken her up against the console or-"

"Jack," He warned.

"Relax Doc," Jack chuckled putting his hands up in mock surrender, "As much as I want to, she's been off limits since Leather."

"I wasn't gonna have her hurt by some pretty boy con man we'd just met." He clarified.

"Oh you were so far gone back then," Jack snorted. "And look who's talking pretty boy my ass."

"That was her not me." The Doctor replied indignantly.

"So you're telling me she chose your regeneration?" Jack smirked. "I didn't think there was that much control over the process?"

"There isn't, I didn't, don't," He sighed impatiently. "I regenerated when I took the vortex out of her and for a brief moment the two of us were connected throughout time and space and so when I changed, I changed for her, to be more suitable to, be with her. It's why this version of me was so devastated after Canary Wharf. I have lost companions before Jack, so many, but I never really got over losing her."

"And the other one?"

"Is no doubt heartbroken, just as I would be." He sighed. "The pain never lessens, even now he's regenerated, he is still the same man. He'll just be better at hiding it. I could feel it you know, when he dumped us on the beach in Norway."

"Your twin?"

"Yea," He breathed with a smile, "I guess that's what you could call him, us, Brothers. Hmmm, haven't had a brother in centuries." He regarded his cup thoughtfully.

"I don't think he dumped you here either," Jack mused.

"Hmmm? What do you mean?" The Doctor sipped his tea.

"Well think about it," Jack began, leaning back against the wall, hands behind his head, "Regardless of our current circumstances, if you led the life you did, which coincidentally you do-"

"I know what you mean get on with it," The Doctor waved impatiently.

"Where would you send the one person you care about most?" Jack pressed.

"Away from me, home, to be safe-" The Doctor's mouth snapped shut.

"I'm sure he could have kept you on the TARDIS with him," Jack replied softly.

"Not likely," He snorted, "Imagine the complications."

"You two would have worked-" Jack was silenced by the sudden far off look in the Doctor's eyes.

"But he couldn't, because we knew something was coming," The Doctor breathed, "So he sent us away, a whole universe away. To be safe?"

"The only other Time Lord left, the only peice of home remaining." Jack put a hand on the Doctor's, "You really think he didn't care?"

"Oh but it's bigger than that..." The Doctor was deep in thought, almost staring through the other man with a frown. "He saw something in the time lines, something I missed-"

"Why can't you see it?" Jack questioned.

"Can't see my own time line." He replied distractedly.

"Then we'll never know will we Doc," Jack grinned. "Just remember that he cared enough to keep the both of you safe."

"I suppose-" He murmured.

"Or to shag like bunnies," Jack raised his eyebrows with a smirk, "Speaking of which, why don't you?"

"What?" He replied still distracted by his previous musings, "Oh, right. Um- it's just a matter of breaking through my barriers, triggers and pheromones and all that."

"Oh so it really is all in your head?" Jack snorted.

"Oh very funny," The Doctor scoffed rolling his eyes. "Mind you she's getting quite proficient at cracking them even if she doesn't realise it."

"So I was right," Jack hooted, "Time Lord Sex really can blow your mind?"

"Well, in her case yes," He nodded seriously, "She's human, my mind would destroy her."

"But you couldn't penetrate her mind, no pun intended of course." He smirked.

"No I couldn't," He mused then looked a little saddened, "But that's the point, cause for me, it's not just about that. I need-"

"Oh," Jack realised, "Of course you do, telepathic beings need to be-"

"Yea," The Doctor looked away.

"Maybe you could teach her?" Jack offered. "You already share a telepathic bond, why not find a way to exploit that, what with her shielding so effective and all? Who knows."

"Maybe." The Doctor mused.

"At least then she wouldn't be turning her Jackie Tyler impersonation on us every ten minutes." Jack laughed. "Trust me Doc, I know frustration when I see it."

"Oh you have no idea," He groaned.

"After the cold shower I had just now," Jack raised his brow, "I know, believe me."

The TARDIS lights dimmed momentarily and the Doctor stood wearily and placed his cup in the sink.

"We've arrived," He turned to Jack as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "We better go find Rose."

"Don't take this the wrong way Doc, but you look like shit."

"Haven't been sleeping, not for days now," He admitted, waiting as Jack came to join him near the door, "Don't need as much as you lot still, but a good eight hours would do brilliantly right now."

"Yeah well as soon as we get some information it's forty winks for you," Jack ordered, "Can't have the designated driver passing out from exhaustion."

"No," He agreed, "Suppose not."

The two men rounded into the corridor when the Doctor tripped over a small jean clad leg. He crouched down in front of her and she pulled her leg up against her chest sheepishly.

"What are you doing out here?" He frowned curiously.

"Didn't wanna be away from you." She mumbled as he pulled her to her feet.

"Eavesdropping more like?" He smirked.

"Couldn't hear proply anyways," She murmured, "Something about blowing Jack's mind?"

"I never said anything of the sort." He retorted. "That'll teach you for spying."

"But I wasn't," She slapped him in the arm playfully. "Wanted to say sorry for bein' a right cow."

"Hmm I should make you stay in the TARDIS til Jack and I come back." The Doctor teased.

"No I wanna go with you," She whined, clutching his hand tighter as they entered the Console room.

He pretended to think it over with a groan which made her giggle."Oh alright then."

"Lemme' just grab a coat." She ducked around him as he checked co-ordinates on the monitor.

"How much?" Jack smirked as she breezed past him.

"Oh, every word." She raised an eyebrow and grinned as a long black leather coat appeared on the railing beside her.

"Thanks girl." She ran her fingers along the closest coral struts as she slipped it on.

"Nice," Jack approved, "It's very old him, but so you."

"Shut up." She swatted him as she buckled it across her front.

"Right," The Doctor took a double-take as he strode around the console to meet them, his eyes regarding the full length of her.

"Wh-Where did you find that?" He almost stuttered.

"TARDIS." She grinned pulling her hair from the back of it as she turned up the collar.

"Oh, good. Looks, um, warm-ish." He swallowed diverting his gaze with a cough. "Time for some answers then."

"Allons-y." He enthused as he disappeared out the TARDIS doors.

"Aye Captain," Jack grinned as he and Rose fell into step behind him.


	19. Chapter 19

The Nightmare Child lay docked against one of the smaller two asteroids in the cluster of effervescent green and black set against a nebula of dust and rocks, a single white dwarf burning in the distance. It reminded Rose a little of the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. Jack seemed to agree as he ducked to whisper in her ear.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto."

"I know, it's weird init." She replied, Dominic and Riven who flanked their right looking at them as if they were slightly mad.

The Doctor had explained the military nature of the Shadow Proclamation and so had instructed them into formation as planetary rank and species designation before they set off across the bridge separating their docked side of the cluster. It was something his Brother would not have bothered with he mused, nor him when they had been the same man, but since he had planned to stay in one place, relatively speaking anyway, with Earth designated as his planet of residence, he thought perhaps that this time around he would follow protocol so there were no arguments or debates, nor inappropriate questions regarding any of the relationships aboard either ship. The Proclamation were a nosy lot but they could bloody well mind their own business.

The Doctor strode ahead at the front with his hands in his pockets. He briefly explained with a hint of sadness that only Rose and Jack picked up on, that he was in fact a General and would therefore resume this standing as the rank almost entitled him to say what he wanted regardless of adding Time Lord to the front of said designation. Rose kept in step purposefully behind him to the right in position as his Lieutenant General after a mumbled rant about Gallifreyan socio-norms and possibly something about matrimonial stature as telepathically connected individuals on a Class 17 asteroid. Jack at the time had thought it appropriate that the Doctor had chosen her to act as his right hand so to speak but truth be known, it was really her who held the Lord of Time in the palm of her hand, him and his Brother. He briefly wondered if she'd even considered the power she unknowingly wielded.

Jack followed behind Rose but to the left of the Doctor as per his Captain's rank, which he also by this point in time had earned according to the Time Lord even if it wasn't his to begin with, he now had, if not surpassed. Dominic and Riven followed closely to their right but behind and separated by a few feet with Dominic in the lead and his Commander behind his right shoulder and six sentries who followed two by two behind Riven.

As they moved across the bridge, Rose had a brief thought about how ridiculous they must have looked, but as they approached the glass doors to the central chambers she almost gasped at the reflection. She hardly recognised herself. Her long black coat billowing just as The Doctor's and Jack's did, long slightly darker blonde hair flaring out behind her with eyes almost as dark as the Doctor's determined gaze. Dominic and Riven matched them step for step, the Danin's robes flowing as he moved and his Commanders armour glistening under the soft green glow of the city. For all intents and purposes they appeared a force to be reckoned with, she'd always known it about the Doctor and Jack but had never really considered herself on par with the two. She caught the Doctor's eye as they drew closer and he winked. She could almost hear the 'Oh yes' that would have accompanied it had he known what she was thinking. Perhaps he did. Right then, she thought, her eyes narrowing, act like you owned the place. Got it.

The doors slid open to reveal a expansive almost translucent chamber, in the centre of which sat a woman robed in white with pale skin, even whiter hair and red gleaming eyes. Another of her kind stood behind her right shoulder and several Judoon stood to attention as they approached.

"Shadow Architect," The Doctor greeted with a solemn nod as the group rounded in front of her.

"Doctor," She returned the gesture and bid him sit in the chair opposite her. Rose remained standing, leaning against the back of the chair on his right and Jack to the left, eyes glancing around the room taking in every small detail. Dominic and Riven along with their sentries stood to attention unmoving from their place in formation.

"You know me and so I must assume that you know why we're here." He began, leaning back into his chair, fingers locked across his stomach as he regarded the woman in front of him.

"We know a great many things Time Lord," The Architect replied, her face remaining almost emotionless, "You are known to us through the Human known as Peter Tyler and the Last of Boekind has stood as witness for you. We are aware of the situation on Treroess and its associated moon, and as of galactic time 5232487.25 have dispatched a unit of Judoon to bring the accused, otherwise known as the 'Collective', to us for interrogation."

"Well that's a change," The Doctor drawled, "Where we came from you lot usually send out your goons as judge, jury and executioners."

"We have never, nor would we ever do such a thing let me assure you, and I would severely question the ethics and moral standards of our association in your home universe." She bristled, eyes glowing for a brief moment. "The Shadow Proclamation cannot show bias Doctor, all are considered innocent until proven guilty by trial."

"Then at least we agree on that." He relaxed slightly, she was not lying, of that much he was certain. "The Danin I'm sure would very much like to see them once they've arrive, as they are his kin, he is entitled to oversee proceedings yes?"

"He is," The Architect turned her attention to Dominic. "Tell me Lord of the Spiral, how have these events come to pass in your eyes?"

"It began on the day that I had chosen my betrothed," Dominic stepped forward, "The Galaxial Tribunal had made their selection of appropriate candidates and from there I had chosen my Empress."

"And that would be your Commander?" Her eyes flicked to Riven.

"No my Lady," He replied every bit the dignitary, "The Empress of the Spiral is the Doctor's Second in Command, Rose Tyler."

"I do not understand," The Architect frowned glancing between Rose, Dominic, Riven and the Doctor. "She is clearly a consort of the Time Lord's."

"An act of treason," Dominic continued disregarding the Doctor's snort, "A mistake that turned out to be detrimental to both the health and safety of the Empress and the Doctor. I had no reason to believe that Rose had been otherwise promised to another, and therefore, upon uncovering such things I went into council with my kin."

"What happened?" She urged him to continue.

"I had informed the Collective that both they and the Galaxial Tribunal had been careless in their selective process and that the Empress had in fact been bound to another before she was forced through implantation. When I told them of the Time Lord's existence it was then I knew I'd put them in terrible danger, they made plans to torture and kill both the Doctor and his Lieutenant General. We helped them escape, shortly after to discover that my own family had been disrupting our gene-sequencing for many generations, slowly poisoning us. They were going to tear her apart, Rose that is, the first woman able to hold an embryo for nearly two-hundred years, but it was not meant to be as we soon discovered. The Doctor was unable to retain the cells in stasis and the cell divided almost killing the Empress."

"I mean no disrespect but, she is not of your species, nor have you bound yourself to her, tell me then, why do you still refer to her as your Empress." The Architect asked gently.

"Forgive me for the confusion," Dominic bowed, "But I am somewhat indebted to her. She was willing to hold my progeny until a time that it could be safely implanted into a more compatible host, she did not know me, nor does she hail of my species or associated kin, but she chose to help and I am grateful for that." He smiled at Rose who returned it. "As for her Title, events of late have prevented us from presenting to a relevant authority to oversee Rose's formal abdication and insight the binding vows of my people in order to place my Commander, Riven as my life partner and rightful Empress of the Spiral."

"Then I suggest this is the first thing we rectify Danin for all our peace of mind," The Architect arose from her chair and rounding the desk in front of her, approached Rose who stood to attention as well as the Doctor beside her. "Do you Rose Tyler of Earth officially abdicate any titles or royalties given and or offered to you by the Danin Desturia and renounce you position as Empress?"

"Do I ever," Rose chuckled, the Architect herself smiling at her utterance of relief.

"By Order of the Shadow Proclamation, as Shadow Architect in accordance with article 57-Alpha1, I hereby release you Rose Tyler from your titles and obligations and authorise the union between the Danin Desturia and his chosen partner Riven, as witnessed by the Time Lord Council." She took both Dominic's and Riven's hands and joined them together, "May you both enjoy a long life together."

"So we're the Time Lord Council now?" Rose whispered to the Doctor with a smirk.

"I've been called worse." He muttered resuming his seat as the Architect stepped back behind her desk. "Try Lord High President." Rose gaped but he waved her off dismissively.

"Now that this matter is settled, do any of you know why this 'Collective' would be attempting to bring your line to extinction?" She asked them all.

"Not a clue," The Doctor replied a little too enthusiastically, receiving a gentle slap in the arm from Rose. "What?"

"Rude." She grit through her smile.

"Oh, sorry," He cleared his throat, "Don't you have, you know, spies or something about the universe, surely you know something we don't."

"Like droppin' a piano," Rose groaned and Jack just chuckled at his abrasiveness.

"We-"

A smaller woman resembling their host appeared in their peripheral vision and flitted across the room to whisper something indistinguishable to the Architect. Only the slight dilation of her pupils alerting the Doctor to some new part of the puzzle, even as her face remained neutral. She nodded and dismissed the messenger.

"What is it?" The Doctor frowned sitting forward.

"It appears you have brought more than just the Doctor with you through to our universe," Her eyes flicked to Rose.

"What?" Rose snapped.

"What do mean she brought more than me back?" The Doctor scowled, "What do you know?"

"The Eternals it seems have returned to our realm," She faltered, "That in itself presents previously unconsidered possibilities."

"What makes you think we brought them through with us?" He challenged.

"They've been following you," She revealed, "Their energy signatures were clearly detected on Earth in several locations not excluding the weakest point between your home universe and this one."

"Norway?" Rose screwed up her face in confusion. "But there was only you me and Mum."

"Eternals can choose to be seen," The Doctor responded automatically, "Or not to be seen as the case may be."

"Why don't you sound entirely surprised Doc?" Jack asked turning all their attention back on the Time Lord.

"Welll, something I once saw," He looked to Rose, "Do you remember? You were unconscious, but-"

"Bit hard if I'm unconscious yea."

"Not this me," He clarified.

"Oh," Her eyelids fluttered closed as she thought back to a time when so many of him occupied her thoughts and dreams, "Um, it was Eight, he, he said that the Eternals had played their hand in this or somefin' like that. I can't remember what I showed him," She opened her eyes, "But what does that mean?"

"Indeed," He nodded. "And more importantly how does that relate to now?"

"What is it Doc?" Jack took a step forward.

"I don't know," He gazed up at the domed ceiling then began hitting his palm against his forehead, "Come on, think, think, think!"

"On our world the Eternals were rumoured to have fled a mighty battle," Dominic spoke, "One that raged across the galaxies, the universe even."

"Yes thanks," The Doctor dismissed, "Knew that already."

"You speak of the Time War." The Architect breathed.

"We've already established that, let's carry on," The Doctor pressed impatiently standing to pace in front of his chair. "What else do we know?"

"What are the Eternals?" Rose asked the now slightly agitated Doctor.

"The question is who," The Doctor replied quickly, "They're beings of immense power but they're parasites, they toy with Ephemerals, mortals, for their own amusement."

"It is said that they dwell in the realm of Eternity as their name implies," The Architect spoke to Rose, "Some of their deeds have been written into our history, into the history of the universe itself."

"They've been pestering me for centuries," The Doctor grumbled. "But why now, what's so important about the here and now?"

"So they're the bad guys right?" Rose questioned slipping into the Doctor's vacated seat.

"Not necessarily," The Doctor snorted, "As much as it pains me to admit there were a few I recall who took the moral high ground so to speak and resolved themselves to watching over the realms of time."

"What? Sorta like the Time Lords?" Rose frowned, eyes following his back as he paced and abruptly stopped, twirling to face her.

"Say that again?" He breathed, face inches from hers.

"Like the Time Lords?" She repeated unsteadily as his faced resolved.

"And what do Time Lords do?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"Um" Rose began with a frown, "Watch time, all that is, was, shouldn't an all that I guess, you um, fix- things?"

"Ah, but that's it," He waggled his eyebrows at her, "Not the original intent I must admit, the others never liked to interfere, me though, sometimes I can't help myself."

"Are you deducing?" She smirked, tongue caught between her teeth.

"You know I think I might be." He giggled and winked at her. "Knew I kept you round for a reason."

"Yep," She popped grinning, "Useless without me you are."

"And look at all of you." He gestured to the rest of the group, "With all your resources and age and experience, practically out done by a child in comparison."

"Oi," Rose protested. "Watch it old man."

"What are you talking about Doctor?" The Architect scowled.

"How is it Madam Architect that you know of my species?" He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels as he regarded her with a raised brow.

"Time Lords are pan-dimensional, previous encounters of observational visitations are recorded in our history," She recalled, "But your Homeworld does not exist here, therefore we were led to believe that we were not the originate tangent and that your species existed in one of the others, more specifically the Prime."

"Correct!" The Doctor beamed. "It's why there isn't a Me here. Can't have pan-dimensional beings running into each other as they hopped between universes it'd cause all types of paradoxes and loops, done that before and it's certainly not something I'd like to experience again."

"Agreed," Rose added with a grimace. "But you said travel to parallel worlds was impossible."

"I said, back then when there was only me, but well there's us now, my Brother and myself," He corrected noticing Rose's look of curiosity, "But that's neither here nor there, anyway, I said that it was possible back when the Time Lords existed, they used a device called the Infinity Arc, all gone now of course-"

"But how does that affect us?" Dominic took the opportunity to speak up.

"When my people invented time travel, harnessed it, we were charged with observing the universe, only stepping in when Time couldn't rewrite itself enough to fix the problem, we were given a certain amount of universes to watch over in fact, there are only Eleven running distinctly parallel with the Prime, the rest are more like tangent universes off one of the original set like the Architect suggested."

"Ok," Jack nodded, "I'm following."

"The Time Lords were given Five dimensions while the Eternals watched over the remaining Six." He began pacing once more as he formed his hypothesis. "But the Eternals fled the universes in light of the Time War, which is really an understatement so perhaps if we change the name to Multi-versal Time War then you might have a little bit more accurate perception on what was actually affected-"

"Imagine it," The Architect was horrified, "The devastation."

"Don't have to;" The Doctor waved dismissively, "I was there."

"Doctor," She breathed sadly reaching her hand towards him.

"Anyway," He resumed pacing, "The point is that they left their responsibilities unattended, there were fractures between the Universes anything could've gotten out, did in fact you remember the first time we came here Rose."

"The Cybermen," She nodded for him to continue.

"Exactly," He grimaced, "And us too by extension, but I bet you Ten Quid they're not the only things that seeped from the void."

"There are some corners of the Universe which have bred the most terrible things..." Rose muttered, eyes not leaving the Doctors.

"Indeed." He replied, it was true when he first spoke those words, even more so now.

"But why is it converging here? Now?" Jack shrugged. "What's so important-"

"We are." The Doctor replied simply. "We began changing this universe the moment we fell out of the vortex and helped Pete the first time. Then Rose became trapped, she began defending the Earth."

"But I'm not you." Rose whispered.

"You may not be a Time Lord," He breathed, "But you are everything that Earth needed in my stead and by extension this universe." He looked back around at the others, "She's helped feed a temporal shock wave which has rippled out through history. She even has companions." He giggled again and she grinned.

"So she became what, your substitute?" Jack mused.

"Oh an equal I think," He preened, "You don't have to live forever to stand up for something you believe in. She knew it wasn't right so she fixed it as best she could, as I would've done if we'd been together."

"And Dominic over here," The Doctor spun to face him, "Oh so very important, not only him but his entire species, so very similar to my people's original form, and who knows in a few hundred years they may even evolve that far, they've already harnessed a temporal engine safely, and in a Leviathan, it practically screams TARDIS." He beamed before giving Dominic a pointed look. "It's why they've been tampering with your genetics."

"They fear what we might become?" Dominic questioned softly looking to Riven.

"Oh yes," The Doctor breathed, "The 'Collective' or rather the power behind it, thought that by killing you off they'd stop any possibility of ever being found out, being stopped. In the event of universal catastrophe the natural order of things is to reinstate what was lost, in this case by replacing the Time Lords with the next species with the most potential, time altering to factor in this new evolution. But the process was stunted, and now that I've reversed all their meddling, centuries of their work is crashing down around them, and with a little push from yours truly, and a little help from Rose and the Architect, you're almost ensured an endless stream of future possibilities with her as the very beginning." He smiled softly at Riven.

"This means we may have the advantage," Jack added, "If whoever or whatever it is lurking behind the scenes didn't count on you being here."

"Us Jack," He clarified coming to stand beside Rose, "They didn't count on us being here. So many things have led to this, and I don't usually believe in coincidences, it's not my style. Something else has been counter-acting, interfering or trying to, every step of the way, our time lines have been manipulated to reach this point."

"By Eternals?" The Architect queried.

"Possibly," The Doctor scratched his head in thought, "Or perhaps something else. We might never know."

"So what do we do?" Rose watched him as he swaggered over and perched himself on the corner of the Architects desk.

"Well, once the 'Collective' arrives the Architect will oversee their trial." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, "A good Arcadian Mind Probe will easily find the truth as well as restore the Danin's kin to their former selves should any type of presence be found lingering."

"Aside from that we wait," He kept his eyes on Rose as he spoke, "Because this universe is re-ordering itself and things long since forgotten will come from the darkest of places to impede it."

"How?" Riven finally spoke. "Why? Surely it can't just be us affecting this?"

"Because I'm here now, one Time Lord present and accounted for, so ingrained in the very fabric of reality that I'm affecting this universe just by being in it, helping it knit back together," He breathed turning his attention to her, "By now the Eternals, if they are here as the Architect's sources claim, should be branching back out through the Universes. And I bet they're furious."

"What will they do?" Rose asked quietly.

"Attempt to balance the chaos," He mused, "Whatever came through the breaches doesn't want that to happen though, it's why we're always so busy Rose, even back in our home universe. Will be more so now. Both sides are battling for dominance and it's spreading out through the splinters."

"Sounds dangerous." Jack mused.

"When isn't it," Rose snorted. "But waiting, sorta seems a bit, I dunno, anti-climactic after all that."

"At least we have some insight now." Dominic breathed a sigh of relief.

"Indeed," Agreed the Doctor slipping off the desk and strolling back over to his companions, a soft beeping noise diverting their attention towards the woman in white.

"Doctor," The Architect addressed him as she read from a small monitor on her desk, "The Judoon informs me they are approximately one and a half solar days from us. You will stay won't you?"

"Yes of course," He nodded, "We graciously accept your offer of hospitality but prefer to remain on our ship for the time being, if you need us though you know where we'll be. Oh, and thank you for accommodating us on such short notice- you know-"

"You are most welcome Time Lord." She smiled and arose from her chair, "If you will excuse me, my children will be most anxious to see me after such a long day, and the stories I have for them tonight."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow in question.

"A new story of things that until now had been lost in Myth and Fairytales," Her smile grew, "Now one of hope and a promise of things to come."

"Brilliant stories those," He beamed, "Always liked hope."

"As do I, farewell until we meet again." She bowed slightly and removed herself from the room, escorted by Judoon.

"Ah well that went better than I'd thought," Jack breathed a sigh of relief when they'd gone and they all visibly relaxed, except the Doctor, Rose noticed.

"Come on you lot." The Doctor murmured taking her hand, eyes regarding the landing above them for a brief second as he turned towards the glass doors.

* * *

Two silent figures observed from above as the Time Lord and his companions left.

"He senses our presence now." Spoke the one on the right. "Finally he's beginning to understand."

"Can he handle what is to come?" Came the soft lilting response of his female counter-part.

"He has no choice. Time must be rewritten."


	20. A Brief Interlude

The Doctor and Jack had mused over the console and associated technology for several hours before they'd ducked off to shower and change. They had now waited in the console room a good half hour for Rose to return so they could rejoin Dominic and Riven for dinner. It was after all technically their wedding reception after their surprisingly brief but welcomed ceremony a few hours before.

"Rose," The Doctor whined loudly, "Hurry up I'm starving!"

"I'll meet ya there," Came her voice along the corridor.

"Fine, but don't complain to me when you miss out on all the nibbles!" He shot back pulling on his coat, muttering to himself on his way out the door.

Jack chuckled and followed behind him. He knew what the Doctor was in for.

* * *

Rose had spent a significant portion of the last few hours hidden away by the TARDIS in the library. Upon returning to the ship after learning details of their companions pre-bonding soirée, she had left the two men to their own devices in the console room and come straight in to explain to the TARDIS that their Time Lord was in fact an idiot and that she needed her help cause she really was gonna kill him soon. More than happy to help her new family, the ship had dropped six thick tomes on the floor behind her and sealed the doors.

Rose was laid out on the floor almost atop the third volume itself when she finally found what she'd been searching for.

"Here we go," She muttered, "Time Lord Courting and or Mating Rituals Chapters two-hundred and thirty through three-hundred sixty-four, blimey that'll take me weeks to get through." She moaned.

The ship hummed in amusement and took pity on her by using an over-head light to illuminate a sub-heading down the bottom right of the second page.

"Non-Telepathic, Non-Gallifreyan Species," She read with a grin, pressing a kiss to her fingers and pushing them against the floor under her. "Thanks girl." Rose flicked quickly through the pages and upon finding the paragraph read it aloud to herself.

"Courtship and/or Mating between Time Lord/Gallifreyan and Non-telepathic/Non-Gallifreyan species is possible and relatively simple. The couple in question, upon instigating a sensory telepathic connection through the designated Time Lord or Gallifreyan, may proceed with any of the 34, 679 approved coitial practices provided barriers are set in place to protect the mind of the sub-species thus avoiding cranio-temporal haemorrhage and subsequent brain implosion."

"And here I was thinkin' he was just bein' arrogant again." She mused.

"In relation to the subjective Gallifreyan, achieving release can be brought about in many ways, however does require an element of telepathy as well as physical stimulation for complete release. The septum pellucidium and the hypothalamus have shown to be a part of a distributed system of brain regions housing important "Pleasure" nodes and include subcortical and cortical regions such as the nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum, orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. When engaging in mating rituals, it is recommended that a telepathic stimulation of these regions will assist in leading to an echoing affect and result in complete release for both parties."

"Wow," She breathed, "It's so clinical, and –and strangely enough completely filthy-."

"-Oh my god," She realised. "I've turned into a creep, turned on by alien biology textbooks."

"You should see your face when he starts up about temporal-physics." Jack laughed from the door behind her. "It's priceless, with just the tiniest bit of drool."

"How did you get in?" She cried indignantly clutching the book to her chest and peering around him for signs of the Doctor.

"TARDIS let me in," He chuckled sitting down on the sofa in front of her. "Don't worry, he's off somewhere changing."

"Yea, well," She muttered. "Wouldn't matter if he did come in, I can't make heads or tails of half of this."

"Then don't push it," Jack offered with a small smile, "You don't need all this, just, be yourself ok, it's worked for ya so far."

"Yea I guess," She screwed her face up as she thought. "But it's not fair on him then, I'm not enough-"

"You are more than enough Rosie," Jack told her with conviction, "You are everything, worth dying for in fact."

"Says the man who can't die," She snorted, but smiled genuinely at him. "Any other words of advice?"

"Something short and revealing?" He smirked.

"You wish." She teased

"Hey you asked." He raised his hands in surrender as he stood and made his way back to the door, "I'll see ya later."

"Yea," She breathed.

"Just be brilliant," He smiled as he disappeared around the door and the TARDIS resealed them.

Rose looked at the book in her lap before addressing the ceiling.

"Do you know if Jack was right about me being able to shield myself from the Doctor while still lettin' him in enough to, you know, make it mutually beneficially, without the head implosion bit?" Another thought struck her, "Can I even release his shields or is that just him?"

The TARDIS hummed and illuminated another paragraph.

"Time Sensitive Species who are slightly psychic in nature can release Time Lord barriers by initiating courtship by pheromone, name or a mixture of both as the case may dictate," She stopped turning back to the ceiling, "But I don't know his name, does he even have one or is it just Doctor?" She sniffed herself experimentally. "Do I have pheromones?"

The ship rumbled in amusement once more flashing further down the same paragraph.

"Oh, I can use my own name-" She frowned exclaiming in frustration. "The Old High Gallifreyan translation of my name?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" She huffed turning to the back of the large volume in hopes of perhaps finding an appendix of translated text. She didn't like her chances and after a futile search she closed the book on her lap and leaning on it with a sigh.

"There has to be another wa-" Rose stilled as a word flitted through her mind with a soft song like melody to it.

"Is that it?" She breathed, the TARDIS humming happily in affirmation, "It's beautiful."

The ship replayed it to her over and over, repeating itself to her until finally the word came from her lips as perfectly as it danced across her mind. She smiled up at the great domed ceiling. "Whatever would I do without you." The ship rumbled smugly but wrapped her little human in a warm telepathic blanket which caused her to laugh. "I love you too ya sentimental thing you."

Her smile dimmed and she rolled her eyes as a petulant whining noise came from the direction of the console room, it was then that she realised how late she had left getting ready.

"Bollocks," Rose swore as she picked up the books from the floor and returned them as the TARDIS directed before dashing across the hall to her room, moved there to save her time.

"I'll meet ya there," She called knowing the TARDIS would pass on her message, ignoring the responding tirade about nibbles.

She was relieved to find the ship had taken the liberty of providing something appropriate for the evening having taken Jack's advice, and quickly stripped off on her way through to the ensuite. She was calm and resolved as she stepped under the hot soothing spray, repeating her name over and over. This was it. No more games. A smirk spread across her face. Well, she thought, maybe just one more.

As it turned out there were quite a few more people on board than the Doctor had originally thought. He'd just spent the last fifteen minutes chatting with an older gentleman named Gerard in relation to engineer improvements and found him quite insightful with his theoretical workings on enhancing the temporal shield generator. Childs play for him really but he was all for encouraging developing species and all that. He and Jack had also had another chance to catch up until a small bubbly orange skinned woman had pulled him from his seat and demanded a dance. So now here he sat alone at the end of a rather long and elaborately set table in a seat made for two and no Rose nor nibbles in sight. It wasn't half a bit rubbish. He was too busy sulking to notice that half the gathering had diverted their attention as his companion entered the room.

They were serving dinner by the time she slipped in beside him, crossing her legs slowly as he regarded her from the tips of her stiletto clad feet all the way up her toned, almost bare legs to the immensely short cream strapless dress with ribbons delicately crossed up her body. He swallowed audibly as he came to the long, perfectly straightened flowing hair framing her face and finally the resounding smirk plastered all over it.

"You're trying to kill me aren't you." He breathed as she reached across him to take a sip of his wine, revealing a small yet tantalising view of milky white cleavage.

"Yup," She confirmed smugly as she made herself comfortable leaning almost against him.

"Oh you're playing with fire Rose." He murmured regarding those around them, his face half pleasant smile, half smirk.

"Bring it on Time Lord." She challenged, looking towards the woman who was approaching with their first course.

"Thank you." Rose smiled, the Doctor also offering the same pleasantry, almost dropping his cutlery as his companion brought her spoon to her mouth and moaned softly in appreciation of the taste.

"Good god," The Doctor muttered shaking his head, smirk looming ever larger on his face. Oh she was good. But he was better. He ignored her perfectly sculpted raised eyebrow, instead turning to his left to listen in on a discussion which turned out, much to his delight, to be a rather enthralling physics debate. It might even keep him distracted enough not to notice Rose uncrossing and recrossing her legs rather seductively, or her rather plump glistening pink lips as she licked the remnants of soup from the silverware.

"That's very distracting." He murmured during a lull in the conversation.

"Is it?" She feigned ignorance, still paying attention to the conversation involving Jack to their right and the aforementioned spoon.

"What's brought all this on then?" He took a swill from his glass.

"Turnabout's fair play," She replied softly, smiling and waving at a rather content but sloppily drunk midshipman.

A squabble redirected both their attention to the Doctor's side of the table.

"I disagree," Gerard interjected, "It stands to reason that the electrons and quarks within an atom are not zero dimensional but one in the form of oscillating threads." He was waving about a napkin with equations scribbled across it.

"Doctor," He handed the napkin his way, "You seemed to have an excellent scientific mind what do you make of this?" The Doctor removed his glasses from the breast of his jacket and slid them on as he took the proffered serviette.

"Well," The Doctor mused, noticing his companion's gaze out the corner of his eye as it drifted up his chest to fixate on his 'sexy specs' as she had so dubbed them.

"Seems sound in theory, but it would require the existence of several extra dimensions to the universe that have been compacted to an extremely small scale, in addition to the four known space-time dimensions of course."

"Ah hah," Gerard hooted turning back to his previous argument, "You see it makes sense what I've been telling you."

"Should've told im' bout' the connection between Bosons and Fermions." Rose breathed across his ear.

"Are you trying to seduce me with Theoretical Physics?" He raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"That depends?" She raised her glass to Jack as he waved and grinned in her direction, the small orange woman now dragging him out of the room by his coat.

"On what?" He took a sip from his own glass before stuffing a large amount of green fluffy something-or-other from his plate into his mouth.

"Is it working?" She replied biting into an unsuspecting breadstick.

"Have to do better than that," He offered with a smirk, "Played with string theory in nursery."

"What I recommend 'playing' is not at all appropriate for nursery," She murmured into her glass as the Doctor proceeded to choke on his mouthful.

"Oh?" He coughed spitting his food discretely into a napkin, watching her closely as she removed the glasses still perched on his nose.

"Oh yes, what do ya think Doctor?" She slipped his glasses over her ears and slowly up the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were dark and playful. "Library? Or Console?"

He gulped. "Somehow I don't think the TARDIS would appreciate the con-"

"-Rose," The Danin called as he approached the two of them, "You look wonderful this evening." He kissed both her cheeks, squeezing her hand warmly.

"Aw, thanks," She grinned, "Where's your good lady wife then?"

"Well," He smirked, "She has never had a fondness for all the pomp and circumstance, she's on the flight deck checking sensory readings, but she promises to come along shortly."

"Congratulations again," The Doctor shaking Dominic's hand, reaching across Rose who took the opportunity to slip his glasses off and return them to his breast pocket, exceptionally slowly.

"My thanks to you," He the Danin grinned back, "Without all we have been through these past days, this may not have even been possible."

"It's fortunate that some good has come from such unpleasant events." The Doctor agreed. "And I hope the Proclamation will be able to return your family without insult or injury."

"As I pray too my friend." Dominic nodded, a brilliant grin illuminating his face as he spotted Riven by the door, looking glorious if not a little uncomfortable in the vibrant crimson gown. "Please excuse me."

"Go on then," The Doctor grinned watching as Riven's face lit up as she saw him. All were silent and moved to stand as the couple approached the head of the table. Rose and the Doctor stood together, the man in question finally realising just how short her dress was as several eyes throughout the room eagerly appraised her. He moved closer to her instinctually.

"People are staring," He whispered, running his knuckle down the side of her dress until he reached skin.

"So are you." She quipped, eyes not leaving Dominic as he began his speech. The Doctor however was practically speechless. What exactly was she up to? He let his hand fall, resting by his side, his skin brushing Rose's hand. He nudged at her barrier curiously, needing to know exactly what was going through her mind. He rolled his eyes when all he was met with was an image of the TARDIS. Well, at least she'd relaxed one.

"Let me in," He murmured, "We can't talk unless you release it-."

"Release yours," She replied challenging him with a bat of her eyelashes.

"You know it's not that simple," He leant down slightly to whisper, "Or did you forget I caught you eavesdropping?" He teased.

"Did not," She nudged him, his close proximity making her feel light headed.

"Did too," He nudged back with a smile he knew she couldn't resist.

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes looking away, tongue caught in her teeth. They stood in companionable silence as the Danin continued with the pleasantries.

"Now sit, eat, dance and enjoy the evening," Dominic finished and a loud cheer erupted throughout the room as he pressed a loving kiss to Riven's lips. The Doctor resumed his seat and Rose beside him, now closer than she had been before. He frowned as her dress slid up to reveal the top of her stockings as she crossed her legs, the material finally sliding back down to an almost acceptable length up her thigh.

"Problem Doctor?" She asked innocently, his gaze snapping from her leg to her eyes at the sound of her voice.

"Oh no problem," He murmured, "But you might give this lot a good shot of ya knickers if you keep doing that." He eyed her leg pointedly as she shifted once more.

"Who says I'm wearin' any?" She winked.

"What?" He exclaimed loudly drawing half the table's attention.

"Everything alright Doctor?" Dominic called from the opposite end.

"What?" His head snapped around, "Fine, fine," He coughed, attempting to remove the squeak in his voice, "Everything's fine. To the happy couple." He raised his glass, relieved when the table toasted together and resumed their previous activities.

"Good cover," Rose smiled into her glass as he leant his head back against their chair regarding the ceiling with a deep breath.

"You will be the death of me," He chuckled shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'd rather be other things," She quipped.

"Oh I bet you would." He agreed, "But the console really, I mean the TARDIS isn't a prude but-"

"-Can be this table for all I care." She replied dryly, drumming her fingers against said surface. "Or the wall in the hallway." She dropped her shield long enough push an image against him. And he sat up abruptly.

"Oh that," He shivered slightly, "That there, that's cheating."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about" She stared into him over her glass as she drained its contents, her other hand managing to sneak undetected into his coat and under the back of his suit jacket, nimble fingers managing to free his dress shirt and find the cool skin beneath. He jumped at the contact and barely hid a smirk as he stood up to wrap his coat around himself protectively before resuming his seat with an indignant humph.

"How did you know about that?" He muttered draining his own glass and returning it not so gently to the table.

"You mean the reason you wear so many layers," Her teasing turned serious, "Or how a touch can set your skin on fire?"

His head snapped around, "What?" He breathed, pupils dilating and eyes changing colour until they were almost as black as the pupils themselves. She held his gaze as her finger trailed across the back of his hand as it rest between them, up and over his wrist as far up his arm as his suit jacket would accommodate. His mouth slipped open releasing a shaking breath as his eyes slid shut.

"That's playing dirty Rose." He mumbled unconsciously leaning closer to her, swallowing to wet his now very dry throat.

"Who says I'm playin'." She took steadying breath, the smell of him invaded her nostrils.

"If I have to," She nuzzled his cheek, her fingers ghosting over the front of his jacket to flick open the buttons. "I'll drag your barriers down-"

"One-"

Flick.

"At a-"

Flick.

"Time." Warm fingers slipped into the gaps of his shirt, a whisper of a kiss caressing his jaw.

"Tread carefully," Strong insistent finger halted her movements before she could find skin.

"No." She breathed, catching his gaze and holding it. "No more games."

"Do you know what you're asking for?" He tilted his head, staring into her with bottomless black eyes. "What it means if we do this?"

"Do you think I'm that daft?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who don't get it., who keeps toyin' with me Doctor, I didn't traipse through universes to find ya just so you could keep me at arm's length, you think if you touch me I'll crumble, but I won't."

"I would very much like to do all the above mentioned things Rose," He ground out, "Touch you until you crumbled underneath me, so much so you couldn't possibly comprehend, but it would make you, you'd be-"

"Your wife?" She whispered, her breath caressing his throat as she licked her lips, "Your mate?"

"Yes." He hissed, dark eyes glancing away over the table.

"So?" She questioned fiercely, "Why are you so opposed-"

"I'm not," His voice cracked, and she knew his composure along with it, "I want you Rose, so very, very much, but I could kill y-"

"Take me," She challenged, lips millimetres from his ear. "Doctor."

"You'd have me stake my claim here" He snapped, "Right now, in front of all these people."

"I'd have you anywhere," She shot back, "In every time and every place."

He was silent, staring into her eyes, if it wasn't for the vibrations of his thundering heart through her arm she would have sworn he was unaffected. She knew better though.

"Fine," She narrowed her eyes, "I'll do it myself."


	21. The Doctor's Wife

_Please be advised this chapter contains adult references and random silly-ness! Please enjoy. You have been warned. xoxo. Love your reviews, keep them coming!  
_

* * *

"Fine," She narrowed her eyes, "I'll do it myself."

"What are you talking about?" He scoffed.

"One word Doctor," She challenged, "Just one, and they'll come tumbling down."

"Ah," He countered, "I haven't told you it yet, that won't work."

"You wanna bet," She pushed.

"Yes." He replied, certainty dripping from his words.

"Right," She grabbed onto his lapel, pulling him sideways until her lips pressed against his ear, "So what happens if I say- Arkytior." She spoke the last so incredibly softly he almost didn't hear it over the thunderous sound of his mind breaking. In the blink of an eye he had lost control, brought down by one little word, a name that wasn't even his own. It was as if the floor had been pulled out from under him and he slouched forward as a gasp was pulled from his lungs.

"What happens," He shuddered beside her, "Is we most likely won't make it back to the TARDIS." He raised an eyebrow at her, his breath coming in small pants.

"Time to go then," She stood abruptly glancing around the room for signs of Dominic and Riven.

"They've gone," The Doctor mumbled, taking her hand and pulling her after him through the crowd of guests, out through the kitchen and into the corridor towards the TARDIS. She was confused until a second later he abruptly turned and dragged her into a darkened alcove and crushed her against the wall with his body.

His lips descended on hers with the urgency and intensity of a drowning man seeking air and she matched him stroke for stroke, fighting for the upper hand, her fingers lacing through and pulling at his hair, nails scratching across his scalp eliciting a groan from the back of his throat. Just as she thought she might pass out from lack of air he tore is mouth from hers, resting their foreheads together and she let her hands fall to grasp his lapels, grinning up at him all gorgeously dishevelled and quite thoroughly snogged, panting as she was, smirk plastered from ear to ear.

"That was brilliant," He breathed, "Tell me why we've never done this before?"

"Cause you're an idiot," She remarked as she dragged him back to her lips, leaning her shoulders back into the wall behind her so she could grind her pelvis deliciously against him.

"Good god, Rose," He gasped against her lips, "Do that again." She was more than happy to comply, heat pooling in her belly as she pulled his shirt from his trousers and slid her hands up across his stomach and over his chest. The sensation her touched caused made him groan and press against her even harder, a hand dropping from the wall to run over her shoulder and down the smooth expanse of white satin hiding her skin from him, finally coming to rest on her waist and pulling her closer. He reluctantly dragged his mouth from her.

"We should move," He whispered pressing kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

"What the hell for?" She gasped, her nails trailing fire down his chest. "What's wrong with right here?" She mumbled, biting back a cry as his tongue worked its magic against her throat.

"I don't know about you, but I didn't image our first time being up against a bloody wall at a wedding reception," He muttered against her skin.

"What'd you expect," She moaned as he found a particularly brilliant spot on her shoulder, "Romance and candles?" He muttered something indignant but incomprehensible as his fingers danced up her side and across her chest, halting only when they'd found the small nub straining against the flimsy fabric of her dress.

"Face it Doctor," She panted, "That isn't us, but this, this is so us." He ceased is exploration of her shoulder to return his attention to her face.

"So shagging against a wall is fine with you?" He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Shaggin' you anywhere is fine with me. Besides," She jerked her head to the left, "Sideboard there, plus we're in space, in the future, and on a Leviathan." Her tongue catching on her teeth mischievously. "Don't get much better than that."

"Oh I knew you were trouble the moment I laid eyes on you." He shook his head with a chuckle.

"Oh yea?" She smirked taking hold of him through his trousers.

"Yes," He replied seriously, gasping at the feeling of her hands so intimately placed.

"You keep that up and this'll be over before it's even begun," He chastised pulling her hand away and securing it to the wall beneath his own while his other hand slid down over her behind to grasp her thigh and pull it up over his hips. She followed him instinctually and wrapped her other leg around him as he held them to the wall with his body.

"I've waited a lifetime for you," She breathed, "What makes you think I'll last another five seconds."

"I'll make you," He growled as he pushed off the wall, carrying her the few feet to the sideboard and placing her down gently, her long glorious legs remaining wrapped around him.

"You're arrogance is astonishin'," She gasped as he made short work of the ribbons on the front of her dress and set his tongue to work against the newly exposed flesh.

"It's fact," He replied trailing his tongue across her chest and up her throat to nip gently at her pulse point.

"Holy shit," She groaned arching her chest up into him, "That should be outlawed."

"It is," He smirked against her skin, "On at least seventeen different planets and three whole galaxies."

"Definitely not goin' to any of them then." She replied adamantly, her fingers seeking out the skin under his copious amount of shirts.

"Agreed," He ran his long fingers up over her knees and along the outside of her thighs, inching the dress up higher as he went, his mouth still entirely devoted to lavishing attention upon the two very sensitive nubs standing to attention on her chest. She pulled him to her lips as his long delicate fingers drew patterns across the tops of her legs, slowly blazing a trail up her inner thigh to find her wet and inconsequentially lacking knickers. He ripped his mouth from hers in astonishment.

"Rose Tyler," He accused, smirk in place and eyebrow raised in surprise, "You've got no knickers on."

"Very observant Doctor," She moaned in frustration, "Told ya I wasn- oh - god - do that again."

"That's a bit formal love," He brushed his knuckles against her soft flesh and she cried out, "Just Doctor is fine."

"Doctor?" She mewled.

"Yes Rose." He rolled his knuckles once more.

"Oh- Shut up." She pulled him to her lips with her free hand fisting in his hair while the other sought out the zipper on his trousers and slipped inside. It was her turn to pull back with a gasp.

"You're not wearin' any knickers either," She snorted.

"Nope," He grinned cheekily, the expression however was wiped off his face, replaced instead with a perfect little 'oh', his eyes slipping closed as she released him from his trousers and took him in hand. When he finally opened his eyes Rose literally saw stars, and planets and time, she could get lost in him, she knew it. He removed her small hand from around him and placed her fingers gently against his temple, replacing her hand with his own.

"This is it," He breathed, speaking softly, "Your last chance to change your mind. Once we do this, there is no going back, you'll be mine, for as long as we have together."

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord," She pointed out condescendingly, bracing herself with her free arm against the wall as her fingers pressed harder against his temple. She left her mind open as he pushed his hips against her. The feeling was almost unbearable bliss as her also barely used parts stretched well beyond what she considered normal to accommodate him, inciting an almost deliriously warm sensation in her belly which radiated out through her whole body all the way to the tips of her toes.

"Oh, my-," She was gasping for breath and he hadn't even moved yet.

"Alien remember," He whispered with a hint of concern, "Just relax, I won't hurt you."

"You must be readin' me wrong," She replied, sucking in a breath as he pushed further forward, "Cause this face right here," she waved across her face with the hand that should have been bracing the wall, "Learn this face Doctor, cause you're bound ta see more of it."

"Is that a promise." He grinned.

She made her point by tensing the muscles in her legs and pulling him all the way into her.

"Dear sweet Rassilon," He groaned, she didn't know what that meant but she agreed whole heartedly. He half sighed half laughed, "No wonder your lot is so obsessed with this."

Rose tensed as she felt a movement from within her then the warm sensation was back, burning through her veins like fire so intense she arched into him.

"It's alright, it'll pass," He pressed kisses to her throat, "Biological quirk, my body's learning yours, inside and out."

"Why?" She gasped as another wave hit her this time tingling across her skin like a cool breeze inciting goose pimples on her flesh.

"So I don't spend the next seventy odd years with an unhappy spouse," He replied sarcastically, "Why else would you think." She opened her eyes to see mirth twinkling in his.

"You're serious," She breathed clutching at his shoulder.

"This body will only ever know you," He murmured taking her face in his hand, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, "Every nuance, every contour, every minute detail that makes you, you." She marvelled at his restraint, he still hadn't moved but god did she want him to. She experimentally curved her hips towards him and groaned as he swelled inside her.

"Keep still woman." He moaned through gritted teeth, sighing at her impatience but a smile graced his features. "Not done yet. Our biorhythms have to synchronise."

"Doctor," She arched against him again as a throbbing pulse spread through her, her heart matching its pace, "Your- oh – god – impressive really don't come close." She laughed as her body calmed slightly.

"Oh no," He smirked. "But if you keep feeding my ego like that, there'll be no room for either of us."

Her response was cut off as finally he moved against her, arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her down hard, a stream of alien expletives erupting from his mouth as he took her. She went gladly, matching his rhythm as expertly as age old lovers. She felt herself both round him and inside herself and it was the most fantastically, brilliant sensations she'd ever experience. If she could have formed a coherent thought she would happily list out a whole thesaurus worth of brilliant words just for him and her and them. He filled every part of her, his consciousness stretching through her, etching himself into her as she felt herself mold to fit him, and she was close, oh so close, something building inside of her, cascading and multiplying over and over, it was just there, but just out of reach, with the last semblance of rationality she realised that what she felt wasn't her, it was him. Her mind raced backwards in time in an attempt to explain it. And when she did, suddenly it all made sense. She wasn't sure if it was just her slow mind catching up or a side effect of sharing his but she knew, all those things she had read, she knew where to find them, what they were, what she needed to do and she surged through his mind, blazing through over a thousand years of memories, igniting and soothing his synapses as she went until finally she found the trigger behind a battered old wooden door, her ears vaguely registered some sort of negative response from him but she was too far gone and she'd be damned if he thought she was gonna let him make this all about her. It was them or nothing, those were the rules. Her whole being radiated heat as she reached for the final peice that would shatter him, she raised her hand and burnt her name across the door, rebuilding and changing it until it stood shining and brand new before her. She smiled to herself, her mind calming before the tempest before her as she pulled the door open. All or nothing, that's who she was, who they were, and with that thought she leapt head first into the thundering typhoon that welcomed her. The last thing she recalled before oblivion was the feeling of silk slide across her hand and a name as it seared across her soul, burying itself in her mind. She knew his name. It was terrible and painfully sad and beautifully him. And now it was hers. It was the last thing that left her lips as he broke and they fell into eternity.

* * *

When she finally opened her eyes she frowned at what stared back at her. She was looking down at herself, beautiful and panting and _mine_, then abruptly her perception shifted and she was staring up at the Doctor's beautiful brown eyes and delightfully mussed hair.

"Hello," She smiled softly.

"Rose Tyler," He sighed, shaking his head in astonished disbelief, "You scared the living hell outta me."

"Oh?" She giggled.

"Yes oh," He chuckled pressing a brief lingering kiss to her swollen lips.

"We shagged," She pointed out needlessly with another giggle, tongue caught mischievously between her teeth.

"Yes," He agreed with a nod and a raised eyebrow. "Did a little more than that actually."

"He he." She grinned earning herself an indulgent eye roll.

"How did you-" He began with a curious smile.

"TARDIS showed me," She breathed pulling herself towards him, tongue curling around his Adams apple, "Gave me books and everything."

"Oh, OH, is that how you knew about the skin thing." He nodded as if it all made sense now, "That's good, that she helped, but that's not what I'm asking."

"Go on then," She sighed pulling away from his throat instead running her fingers across his sideburn and up through his hair so she could trail her nails across his scalp again. He really had great hair.

"You went into my mind," He began, eyes closing briefly under her ministrations.

"Yup." She agreed pressing a kiss to his jaw.

"Brought about THE most mind shatteringly fantastical orgasm probably in the history of my species."

"Uhuh," She nodded pressing her lips to his.

_"All without a single barrier."_ He gave her a pointed look, which from her angle looked like he was going cross eyed.

"I what?" She pulled back so he could speak.

"How are you not dead?" He whispered and she remained silent. She had no answer for him.

"My mind should have crushed you but you barely even flinched." He shook his head in disbelief, his brow knitting in concern.

Her hand slipped from his hair and clutched to her naked chest as she felt a pressure against her ribs that bubbled its way up her throat and she hiccupped reflexively. A wisp of golden tendril slipping past her lips and into the space between them, dancing and twirling before it broke across the Doctors lips, disappearing as he inhaled gently.

"Oh," She made a move to bring her other hand to her mouth but it wouldn't comply, she frowned down at their entwined hands. "Is that your tie?" She remarked curiously distracting him from his pending line of questioning.

"Huh?" He murmured casting a look between them, "Oh." He looked up at her, "Yes it is."

"Fetish?" She raised a cheeky eyebrow in question.

"What?" He frowned indignantly, "No."

"I mean not that I mind," She added, "Whatever you're into I'm fine with."

"No, Rose," He caught on as her tongue crept between her teeth again. "Oh very funny missy." He continued his indignant rambling. "I marry you, make a decent human of you and this is the thanks I get."

"You mean it?" She began to smile, warmth bubbling through her. "You an' me?"

"Yes," Replied shaking his head at her indulgently, grin stretching across his face unhindered.

"Brilliant." She giggled and pulled him in for another snog.

"Now," He proclaimed loudly, loath to remove himself from her lips, "I demand, as your very first wifely duty," He waggled his eyebrows. "That you venture forth and obtain me sustenance."

"Oh listen ta you," She smirked pulling him back against her. "You're jus' lucky I like it."

He grinned at her and giggled. "Off you go then Wifey."

"I'd be more than happy to Husband dear," She drawled, her lips ghosting over his, "But we're still a bit, connected?" She raised her eyebrow, her tone sultry.

"Hmmm, aren't we just." He ground into her before pulling away entirely and zipping up his trousers with a flourish. The look on her face was devastatingly bereft.

"Come on then," He encouraged softly holding out his hand to help her slide off the sideboard and pulling her against him when her legs refused to co-operate. After a few moments she regained her composure and demurely pulled the front of her dress together, lacing the ribbons expertly before she pulled the bottom half down over her hips with a wiggle.

She wrapped her arms around him, slipping her hand into his coat pocket to retrieve a possession she'd previously hid there without his knowledge. Her mouth assaulted him briefly before she stepped away, bending over slightly to slip a pair of knickers up her legs, watching as his eyes began to darken again.

"See somethin' you like Doctor?" She teased.

"Most definitely," He growled grasping her hips and spinning her until her back connected with his chest. "Are you gonna make a habit of keeping your knickers in my pockets?"

"Only when I decide to ditch em' at the last minute." She pushed back into him with a smirk.

"Oh you are an extraordinary woman Rose have I ever told you that," He whispered biting gently at her earlobe as his arms wrapped around to keep her firmly in place.

"Maybe," She sighed resting her head back against his shoulder, eyes slipping closed, "Once or twice."

_I love you, forever, always._

_I know._ She smiled.

"Come on," She reluctantly pulled away taking his hand, "Reckon there's gotta be something still left out there for us to eat."

"I like the way you think Tyler," He laughed allowing her to pull him back out into the corridor.

"That's missus Doctor to you thanks," She chastised as they rounded the door to the kitchen.

"Alright then Missus Doctor," He nudged her with his shoulder gently, eyes dancing with joy.

"Much better." She grinned practically skipping along beside him as they crossed the dance floor, laughing and spinning as they ducked around and between the eager crowd of well wishers. The Doctor biding his time, he had to find out what was wrong with her. Cause whatever it was, might very well be the one thing that could tear them apart.


	22. Chapter 22

The Doctor and Rose sat in the now barely lit room that had been just a few hours earlier, packed full of well wishers. Rose was leaning against the arm of their chair at the now empty table, her legs resting across the lap of an exceptionally smug looking Doctor as he sat opposite her picking at the tray of nibbles kindly supplied by the kitchen staff before they'd retired for the evening. She twirled his tie around her fingers as it dangled from her head, sipping her wine with a thoughtful expression.

"Mum's gonna kill you for this," Rose teased softly, tongue slipping out between her teeth.

"I know-" He groaned around his mouthful of croustades, its stuffing smearing across his face. "But I regret nothing!"

"Besides, she thought I was shagging you through time and space anyway, now at least she'll get something right." Rose grinned at him, twirling her fingers through his free hand.

She rolled her eyes with a snort as the sounds of their companion emerged loudly from the doorway opposite them.

"I got it from some kitty next door," He stumbled across the room, "I went and seen the Doctor and he gave me the cure!" He pointed towards the Doctor laughing loudly as he spun himself around the now empty dance floor.

"I think Jack's got Cat Scratch Fever," The Doctor smirked as he approached them.

"My Lord and Lady Time," He gave them an exaggerated bow before almost face planting at their feet, "I am but your humble servant." He hiccupped rolling across the floor giggling until he was looking up at them, ridiculous grin plaster across his face.

"Have a good night then?" Rose raised an eyebrow at him.

"You can talk." He threw back, arms tucking under his head as he sprawled languidly before them.

"What gave me away?" She smirked.

"You've got this glow," He hiccupped waving a hand at them, "And the smell, oh it screams 'I just fu-"

"Must you be so vulgar?" The Doctor shook his head stuffing another treat in his mouth.

"Always," He winked.

"It's not just that though," Jack mused happily, "I can kinda see it I think."

"Oh?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow knowingly.

"Yea," Jack continued, "It's sorta like a perception filter, I can just make it out around you two physically but in my head you're both all wrapped around each other and oh-" He breathed sitting up to gape at them.

"I was right," He chuckled, "Wondered why I'd thought that when I saw you two together."

"What are you on about?" Rose laughed as she reached out to snatch a treat from the Doctor before he got it to his mouth, popping it in hers with a smug grin. Jack watched the exchange, a wondrous bemused expression lighting his face. He caught the Doctor's eye.

"She's your wife." He stated simply, his smile spreading across his face.

"Very good Jack," The Doctor smirked, "She is indeed."

"Oi right here ya know," Rose teased pointing at Jack, "And it's Missus Doctor to you too."

"And I'd thought he'd be the one taking your name" Jack quirked an eyebrow, "Doctor Tyler?"

"Nope," Rose laughed, "That'd just be confusing cause that's me, officially anyways back on Earth. I dunno how his name fits in." She looked across at the Doctor quizzically.

"It's already apart of you," The Doctor shrugged, "With Time Lord names it's different because they don't merely apply to this me, but the rest of my regenerations as well, all those who came before and all those to come."

"All for one and one for all then?" Jack questioned.

"Yup." The Doctor popped.

"Kinky." Jack quipped.

"You would think that wouldn't you." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"I'm certainly not the only one," Jack teased nodding towards Rose and the impressive blush spreading down her neck.

"Humans." He scoffed shaking his head.

"Shut up," She slapped his arm, "As if you'd say no if the opportunity presented itself, no one's more in love with yourself than-"

"And on that note," He cut her off jumping to his feet, "Time for some tests."

He pulled Rose up beside him giving her a pointed look. She'd almost forgotten about the golden tendril that had him acting so on edge for the last two hours. She was surprised it'd taken him this long to haul her back to the ship.

"Come on you," The Doctor helped Jack to his feet. "I've got a little something back on the TARDIS that'll help take care of that hangover."

"What hangover?" Jack scoffed before grabbing his head with a pitiful moan.

"That one," The Doctor smirked over Jack's shoulders at Rose who helped support the man's weight down the corridor.

"I'm dying," Jack groaned leaning against the TARDIS as the Doctor slipped his key in the lock.

"No you're not ya big baby," Rose cooed supporting him through the doors and following along behind the Doctor into the infirmary.

"Right," The Doctor began, "Harkness you're there," He pointed to a gurney and pulled a bottle from a cabinet.

"Rose you're over here." She rolled her eyes at him but did as she was told, watching as the Doctor instructed Jack to lie down.

"Take this," He handed Jack a small pill and a glass of green liquid that materialised on the bench before turning to Rose.

"What the hell is that?" Jack complained around the pill in his mouth.

"Celery juice, it'll do you a world of good." The Doctor supplied absently as he took a sample of Rose's blood and placed the vial into the centrifuge on the counter. She watched as it began to spin before disappearing back into the wall from whence it came, the TARDIS taking over the diagnostic as the Doctor attached electrodes to her chest and wrists and delicately paced one on her temple.

"ECG?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sort of," He nodded as his fingers worked the keyboard to her left at a million miles an hour.

"It's more like an ECG come MRI, come CT scan all rolled into one." He told her, eye's never leaving the monitor, "The TARDIS will take care of the rest."

"How long until you know-" The TARDIS bleeped and he shot her a smug look before reading through the supplied data with a scratch of his head.

"So what's wrong with her?" Jack asked sitting up and downing the rest of the green swill, his hangover almost a distant memory.

"Nothing," He the Doctor muttered creasing his brow, "Nothing at all, the TARDIS can't find anything wrong."

"Maybe there isn't?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You saw what happened," He narrowed his eyes at her, "You can't tell me that's normal unless of course there's something you'd like to tell me?"

"Last time I checked," Rose smirked, "I didn't breathe Huon Particles after mind blowing sex-"

"Huon Particles." He mused looking back to the monitor. "You've got a higher concentration now than you did when we left Earth."

"How'd you reckon that?" She tried to look around to see the monitor.

"TARDIS takes a biological imprint every time you set foot inside her doors." He replied absently scratching the nape of his neck.

"Maybe it's what's left over?" She shrugged lying back against the bed.

"Left over from what?" The Doctor glanced between her and the monitor, his frown deepening.

"The Vortex." She turned her head towards him, he was staring back at her warily, "It killed you, what's to say it hasn't been sittin' there dormant-"

"What makes you say that?" He responded in a low and serious tone.

"Huon Particles are found as a remnant in the heart of a TARDIS," She supplied, "That's what you told Donna."

"How did you know about that?" He narrowed his eyes.

"You already know how," She sighed toying with his tie still wrapped around her head.

"The Dimension Cannon," He moved back slightly nodding his head, "And I suppose that would also explain why you weren't affected by all that universe hopping."

"How'd you mean?" She question, shifting her legs so Jack could sit at the bottom of her bed.

"You went searching through the other dimensions and times without a capsule, now without a briode nebuliser, which would have been part of said capsule like the one we have on the TARDIS, it should have been impossible for you to jump as many times as you did without something interfering to counteract the cellular degeneration that unprotected time travel induces."

"So what's a Briod-"

"A Briode nebuliser stores the Rassilon Imprimateur, it's a link to the symbiotic nuclei which allows a Time Lord access to time travel, it's a part of the link we have with the TARDIS."

"So what does that mean?" Jack asked lounging back across the bottom of Rose's bed.

"It means," The Doctor began, turning back to the monitor, "That something's been protecting her, something that reacted to the bond."

"The TARDIS?" She questioned with a frown.

"I don't know," He breathed, "It shouldn't have been possible from the other universe even for her, no, no it's something else."

"I need to have a look." He turned back to her stepping closer to the side of the bed.  
"May I?"

"Can't you already see?" She smirked earning herself an eye roll.

"This is different from surface thoughts and emotions," He explained, "What we're searching for may very well be locked behind the barriers I erected after the Game Station."

"I can't remember that," She replied seriously, "You know I can't, and you have no more regenerations-"

"I'm not going to release them," He hurried to assure her, "I'm just going snoop around the outside, see if there are any clues, make sure nothing's cracked or, or leaking-"

"Alright then," She agreed hesitantly, "But I tell ya what, Jack if I start glowin' and whatever you get him away from me yea."

"Scout's honour." Jack saluted.

"Right then," The Doctor pressed his fingers to her temples and closed his eyes. The room was silent for a long while and Jack was almost about to drop off to sleep when the Doctor's voice stirred him.

"I was right," He murmured.

"What about?" Jack asked watching the two of them.

"Back when we first arrived Rose was picking up on my thought patterns, not consciously of course, but oh you should see it now, she's grown so much, her minds expanded so far beyond the normal for even your time."

"Shouldn't you be telling her that?" Jack laughed.

"I did." The Doctor murmured, "Her mind can only focus on one conversation at a time, thought you'd appreciate being kept up to speed."

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Jack smiled shaking his head.

"Not yet," He replied with a frown, "I'm helping her to sort through and compartmentalise her memories. She's processing it almost as fast as I am, which is, weeell, impossible."

"You know that word never means what you intend it to," Jack chuckled, "Especially not where she's concerned."

"Maybe it's one of the perks of the bond." He mused raising an eyebrow, "her mind learning and adapting using mine as a template to fill in the missing information."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again Doc," Jack grinned, "If there was anyone in the whole multiverse made for you, it's her."

The Doctor's eyes snapped open to stare at the other man.

"That's it," He breathed looking back to Rose's face, "She looked into the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into her."

"I don't follow." Jack sat up and slipped off the end of the bed to stand beside him as he closed his eyes once more.

"There it is," His lip quirked in an almost smile, "When I joined our minds together the dormant particles reacted to the vortex remnants in my DNA. It's seeping out through the barriers but it's not hurting her, she's been protecting her, guiding her."

"So it is the TARDIS?" Jack frowned.

"No," He whispered shaking his head in wonder, "It's the big bad wolf."

"But I thought you-"

"That's not the only thing," The Doctor cut him off with a frown, "How old do you think she looks."

"Um, I dunno," Jack shrugged looking over his friend, "Twenty-three? Twenty-four maybe?"

"By my reckoning she should be almost twenty-five, but," He paused with a sad expression on his face, "She's almost thirty."

"She lied to me." He breathed, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

"I'm sorry." Came her small voice from between his palms, her eyes wide with sorrow and regret as he opened his eyes to gaze down at her.

"Took me longer than I thought to find you." She whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Didn't want you to worry." She shrugged reaching out to fiddle with a button on his jacket.

"Didn't wanna add yet another thing to the list of stuff you already feel guilty about." She breathed. "So I lied. I really am sorry."

"Hmmm, don't do it again alright." He replied eyeing her seriously before pressing a kiss to her forehead and pulling her against him.

"I promise." She grinned into his chest wrapping her arms around his waist.

Jack was about to open his mouth to comment on just how cute the pair were when the sounds of an alarm blared through the room.

"What the hell is that?" Rose slipped off the bed following closely behind the Doctor as he sprinted from the infirmary and down the hall to the console room. Jack watching as both the Doctor and Rose ducked and weaved around the console and each other.

Rose pulled the monitor around and paled.

"We're about to be dragged back to Earth," She cried over the alarm.

"How do you know that?" Came the Doctor's voice from behind the time rotor.

"Cause that's what it says 'ere." She replied exasperated before ducking to the opposite side of the console to input the communication wavelength for the Nightmare Child.

The Doctor reefed the monitor around to confirm what she'd said.

"You can't read that!" He frowned looking over the top of the screen at her.

"No but you can," She grinned back waiting for the Leviathan to pick up.

"Rose Tyler that's cheating." He screeched indignantly, trying but failing to hide his smirk.

"Doctor what's going on." Jack shouted, snapping the Time Lord's attention to him.

"Pay attention Jack you heard what she said." The Doctor replied starting dematerialisation as Rose spoke to Dominic over the coms.

"Ahhh no," Jack came up beside the Doctor gripping onto the console as the ship pitched violently. "What I heard was a whole heap of undecipherable nonsense."

"Really?" The Doctor frowned looking up from the monitor at Jack then back to Rose as she began flipping switches on the console and murmuring softly to the ship.

"She's not speaking English," The Doctor giggled, "I didn't even realise."

"What's going on Doc?" Jack eyed him warily as the TARDIS shuddered again.

"We're being pulled back to Earth." The Doctor replied nodding towards Rose, "She's initiating the rematerialisation sequence."

"She's flying the TARDIS?" Jack's eye widened in surprise.

"Yup." The Doctor agreed.

"So? She's speaking Time Lord?" Jack raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"No such thing," The Doctor scoffed leaning closer to Jack, a grin spreading across his face.

"Rose is speaking Gallifreyan, it's why I didn't notice to begin with, I speak English unless engaged otherwise, it's why you can't understand it, TARDIS won't translate."

"The bond?" Jack asked following behind the Doctor as he pulled Rose's black coat from the railing and tossed it to her as the ship settled.

"Oh yes." He laughed joining her by the doors.

"You know she wouldn't shake like that if you defrosted the thermo-couplings." She muttered as he helped her with the coat, waving his hands away when he made to help her secure it.

"She's brand new," He rolled his eyes reaching for the door. "Why would I need to-"

"Because you're supposed to do it while we're in the vortex." She argued.

"Get out of my head," He smirked stepping out into the lobby behind her.

Before his trainer even hit the polished floor, time slowed to a crawl. The Doctor barely registered Jack as he ducked out from behind him and across the room with his weapon drawn, aimed menacingly at the unknown assailant who dropped to her knees with her hands behind her head, her long blond hair obscuring her face. His eyes locked on Rose pressed up against his ship, an expression of surprise and terror on her face as she looked from him to her assassin and finally to her hands clasped across her chest and the sickening red stain saturating the white of her dress. His eyes drifted down and he felt her scream through his mind, her knees beginning to buckle and he caught her in his arms as she slid down the wooden exterior of the TARDIS leaving a wet trail of blood. He gently lowered her to the floor resting her against his chest.

"Doctor?" She coughed, blood spilling from her lips as tears rolled down to her temples.

"Don't you dare leave me." He whispered furiously, reaching a shaking hand out to push her hair from her face.

"I...I love you." She took a shuddering breath as she grasped at his hand on the side of her face.

"I'm so sorry." She breathed.

"Rose?" He shook her gently and her hand slipped from him.

"ROSE!"


	23. Chapter 23

The Doctor turned furiously towards the woman on the floor at Jack's feet as he cradled the limp body of his Mate in his arms.

"Why," He spat venomously, "Why would you do this?"

He took a sick pleasure in the way she flinched at his words.

"This had to happen." Came her muffled whimper. "M- Rose, Rose Tyler had to die."

"What has she ever done to you?" He railed at her.

"Self fulfilling paradox." The woman sobbed, her face still obscured by her hair.

"What do you know about such things!" He spat.

"She must be re-born," The woman cried.

"Who are you!" Jack cocked his pistol.

"You know how to save her." She shivered at the sound of the gun in his hand.

"Who sent you?" The Doctor bellowed.

"You did." She lifted her face with a sob.

"No," The Doctor whimpered slipping to lean heavily against the TARDIS with Rose still crushed against his chest, her blood seeping through his jacket.

"No, please no," He shook his head painfully, "Not you."

"You saw her die, watched her, held her in your arms in a timeline that should never have been," Jenny sobbed, "This was where it all began, and you were dying so you sent me back to save her, to save us all, please, please believe me. Jack knows how to help her, he's just forgotten."

"What?" Jack snapped and Jenny's eyes flickered to his.

"It was so long ago for you, I know that, but you have to remember," She cried, tears spilling down her face, "Right now her mind is still there, barely, I can feel it. Please Jack, My Jack, remember. You've gotta help Mum please."

"Your mother?" Jack frowned, glancing from Jenny to Rose and then to the Doctor.

"Please Jack," Jenny grasped at his free hand, "You have to save them, remember me, remember us."

"Us?" Jack stared deep into the blonde woman's eyes, past her mother's familiar dark brown orbs until he saw the stars and felt the turning of the Earth beneath his feet. He dropped to the floor in front of her, his pistol clattering across the ground to stop at Jake's feet. The entire building had come into the lobby at the sounds of shouting and gunfire.

"Jenny," He breathed taking her face in his hands and resting their foreheads together, "How could I have possibly forgotten you." The two missing years of his life, the ones he'd blamed the Time Agency for came flowing back along with the devastating reasons why it'd been imperative that he forgot.

"I'm so sorry," She half laughed half sobbed. "You had no choice."

"I know." He kissed her lips gently and another against her forehead before standing, slipping his hand in his pocket to finger the small vial he had taken from the Nightmare Child. It wasn't the first time he'd met Dominic and Riven, he remembered now. Funny he thought, he'd been present at both this universe's version and the other's wedding.

"Looks like we'll have to go back and get some more of these." Jack sighed crouching down in front of the Doctor, showing him the vial. He barely registered his presence and still hadn't moved from his position beside his ship, he was barely even breathing. Jack could hear the TARDIS mourning as the Doctor himself began to slip away to join his mate in eternity.

"Hold on Doc." Jack breathed pulling Rose from his grip as the TARDIS doors swung open. He walked up the gangway and placed Rose gently down beside the console, when he turned to go retrieve the Doctor, he smiled as Jake and Donna supported his weight as he shuffled to Rose's side. He lay down beside her on the grating, turning to face her and reaching out slowly to pull her against his chest.

"All of you get inside." Jack ordered, "That includes you Jenny, and close the doors behind you."

"What are you gonna do?" Donna sniffed from Ianto's chest.

"Save them of course," Jack beamed flicking the plug from vial in his hand. "Now everyone stay back, over there round the console."

"What are they?" Jake asked holding a trembling Martha against his side.

"Nanogenes." Jack replied as he tipped the contents first across the Doctor then trailed them down over Rose.

"It's your turn Doc," Jack whisper as the Time Lord's hand lifted and the golden particles danced around his skin, "Let them know what to do."

Jack slowly backed away as the Doctor whispered in his native tongue to the tiny creatures, they stilled for a moment and then suddenly descended upon the two figures lying across the grating. The Doctor was the first to scream out in pain.

"Something's wrong," Donna cried.

"The nanogenes are confused," Jenny fisted her hands in Jack's shirt, "This version of Dad is unique, they don't understand."

"I don't know what else to do," Jack's eyes widened in shock and pain as Rose was dragged back into consciousness, an inhuman scream tearing itself from her blood stained lips.

"You have to do something!" Jake cried shielding Martha from their shrieks as best he could.

"These nanogenes are more sophisticated than the ones from my time, more advanced, in theory they should be using their individual biosignatures to heal them." Jack shot back.

"But their bound together," Jenny's eyes widened in fear, "They're using Dad as the template. Look can't you see it?"

"I –I can't," Jack stuttered as Jenny grabbed him with a determined look, pulling his forehead against hers painfully. Then he saw it, time rippling around them, terror and unimaginable pain burning through the two people he loved most in the multiverse, his family he realised.

"I can see it." Jack breathed.

"There has to be something." Jenny cried.

"Hold on," Donna stepped out of Ianto's grasp, her eyes glazed over as if she were seeing something far off in the distance, a frown creased her brow.

"Donna what are you doing?" Jake shouted after her as she dashed around the console flicking switches then with an almighty crash she brought the mallet down against the panel closest to the Doctor and Rose and it popped open, bright golden light filling the console room and spilling out over onto the Doctor, his chest convulsing up off the grating.

"Don't look at it." Jack shouted pushing Jenny around the far side of the console with the others as Donna rounded back to them.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Jack shouted angrily.

"I have no bloody idea," Donna shook her head in disbelief, "But it made sense, I don't know how or why, but I saw it clear as crystal, in my head."

"It has to be the metacrisis," Jenny exclaimed, "They share basal DNA elements, he must have been projecting it, or, or-" Her gaze shot to Jack's.

"These aren't my memories." She shook her head.

"No they're not." Their heads snapped to the familiar silhouette over the console. "Time's in flux, bleeding through the cracks, something's coming through the dark and black and screaming fire."

The Doctor caressed his fingers across the console, whispering gently to the ship before closing her heart and securing it once more, the room returning to its normal bluish green glow.

"I really must stop you lot doing that." He mused looking to Donna with a raised eyebrow.

"Doctor?" Jack questioned cautiously looking from him to the body at his feet as he hesitantly stepped around the jump seat.

The Doctor slowly crouched down by Rose's head with a small smile, his fingers brushing gently at her temples as he spoke.

"Come on love," He murmured, "Up you get."

Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice.

"Hello." She smiled up at him, reaching her hand out to take his as he pulled her from the floor. They stood staring at each other in silence for a few moments interrupted by the brilliant grin that spread across Rose's face.

"It's you!" She launched herself into his arms and he spun her happily, "I've missed you so much."

"Well I'm confused." Donna raised an eyebrow. "Are they completely barmy?"

"Yup." Jack agreed.

"You can't see it can you?" Jenny smiled watching her parents.

"See what?" Donna rolled her eyes.

"That's the Doctor." She grinned leaning against Jack's side.

"Well obviously." Donna snorted.

"No," Jenny shook her head indulgently, "That's _the_ Doctor. When he regenerated the TARDIS stored his consciousness in her heart, time herself saved him and brought him here. He's both the Doctor who stayed _and _the one that had to leave them behind."

"How can you tell?" Jack breathed.

"Because I know," She smirked pulling a device from her jean pocket and stepping away from them, "But now I have to go."

"What? Why?" Jack dashed forward to grab her hand.

"Because you're waiting for me." She smiled caressing his cheek.

"Thank you Jenny." The Doctor smiled over the console, Rose tucked safely under his arm.

"Anytime Dad," She grinned and nodded at Rose, "Mum, I'll see you both soon."

"Not if we see you first." Rose smiled. "Take care love."

"I will," Jenny nodded and turned to pull Jack in for a thorough snogging, pulling back at the sound of her father coughing awkwardly.

"See ya round sailor." She smirked before disappearing in a flash of blue light.

Jack stood unmoving; staring at the space Jenny had once occupied a wistful smile on his face.

"Jack?" The Doctor's voice brought his attention back to the here and now, "You alright?"

"Yea," He turned to face his friend. "Good to have you back."

"It's good to be here." The Doctor smiled rubbing his thumb against Rose's arm.

"So, you're, you?" Jack frowned scratching his head in confusion.

"Yup," He grinned, "Still me, just more memories well, and the other heart."

"Hmmm," Rose pressed her ear to his chest, "An' that respiratory bypass might come in handy in other, circumstances." She whispered huskily.

"Alright you two," Donna snorted pushing past Jack and down the gangway, "I've seen enough."

The Doctor smirked at her retreating form as Ianto followed behind her with a nod.

"Good to see you're both safe Doctor."

"Ianto," He nodded back.

"So you're both really alright?" Martha stepped forward a look of concern and confusion gracing her features.

"Oh yes." He grinned opening his arms to pull her against him.

"Good," She smiled stepping back into Jake, "So does that mean you'll both stay for the wedding?"

"Of course." He beamed then his face slipped looking to Rose, "Um, when was it?"

"Tomorrow," Jake laughed as he led his fiancé down the gangway. "We'll leave ya to it till then."

"Right you are Jakey-Boy." The Doctor agreed as they disappeared through the doors closing them quietly behind them. He turned to Rose, watching as she moved to Jack's side as he sat on the jump seat saying nothing as she wrapped her arms around his neck, cradling his head against her chest. The Doctor leant back against the console, his ankles crossed and his hands in his pockets.

"I nearly lost you both," Jack breathed glancing up into the Doctor's brown eyes, "Again."

"Everything has its time Jack," He replied.

"And everything dies," Rose breathed, "Eventually."

"Good thing we won't have to think about it for ohhh, I don't know.." He smirked down at Rose, "Centuries?"

"What?" Jack's head snapped up at the Doctor then to Rose.

"Can't you feel it?" Rose whispered holding him closer.

_Thump-thump-thump-thump_

_Thump-thump-thump-thump_

"_Still me, just more memories, well and the other heart..."_

"You're, you both-" Jack stuttered his hand spanning out across Rose's chest so he could feel the beating of both her hearts through his finger tips.

"Give the man a medal Rose." The Doctor grinned.

"But how?" His eyes widened incredulously.

"Nanogenes," The Doctor mused, "The TARDIS mostly though."

"When Donna opened the console, the heart of the TARDIS," Rose continued, "I remembered being the Bad Wolf, remembered seeing all this come about, these two points in time and space linked throughout the dimensions."

"The nanogenes worked for a time, healed her wound but then they were killing her all over again, latching onto my Gallifreyan DNA and trying to alter hers," The Doctor nodded to Rose, "But there's never been a Human-Time Lord Metacrisis before, the TARDIS had to take over using the only genetic template she had, my original form. So she and Rose pulled the consciousness of my tenth self back into this dimension, merging the two of us together."

"And in the mean time," Rose grinned, "Making it so he never had to be alone again. Either of him. Cause now there's us."

"Two full blood Time Lord's for the price of one," The Doctor beamed. "And three of us in the multiverse is so much better than one."

"See," Rose smiled, "You really aren't alone."

"No," The Doctor agreed happily, "Should probably pop over and let him know that too."

"Really?" Rose's smile widened, "We could go visit him and Mick's too?"

"Course we can," He nodded towards Jack, "Besides, I think it's time we took this one back where he belongs."

"I don't know where I belong." Jack admitted softly.

"Yes you do," The Doctor replied resting his hand on Jack's shoulder, "Earth needs you, the other me needs you and now, so does Jenny."

"Your father-in-law has a point." Rose quipped, her tongue caught mischievously in her teeth, laughing as Jack blushed.

"Wow," He breathed, "Since you put it like that, it appears my days of lusting after the two of you are over."

"All good things must come to an end." The Doctor smirked.

"So?" Rose released Jack to lean beside her mate against the console, "One wedding and a phone call home?"

"Oh yes." The Doctor enthused pressing a kiss to her lips before bouncing around the console.

"Next stop, Jackie and Pete's place for a cuppa and a chat, make sure everything's going to plan for tomorrow and then, THEN we see about that phone call."


	24. Chapter 24

The Doctor had changed into a clean suit and Rose into yet another dress he found the length questionable on despite her long coat.

"I don't know what you're so paranoid about, besides we'll never survive to see the outside world again if we don't make it to Mum's before someone else relays the specifics of our day first." She rolled her eyes referring to Donna's tendencies to gossip with her mother.

As soon as they stepped out into the entrance hall, the Tyler Matriarch came tearing into the room at top speed, phone still to her ear.

"Too late." The Doctor muttered stuffing his hands in his pockets. Rose groaned in agreement.

"What the hell's goin on?" Jackie bristled practically throwing the phone in her hand across the room at Jack who fumbled with it a bit before setting it down on a nearby sideboard.

"Mum relax," Rose started, "It's-

"If you even utter the word 'alright' I swear to god-" She stood fuming barely inches from the Doctor.

"Jackie-

"Oh don't start," Jackie glared at him, "Donna told me all about what happened, I hope you've got her locked up somewhere they'll never hear her screams-

"Oi," He snapped, "That's my daughter you're talking about."

"She tried to kill Rose!" Jackie roared, the Doctor stilling as his senses reflexively reached out at the faint buzz of distressed awareness he found floating about her.

"Mum stop it," Rose's eyes widened as his revelation flashed through her mind and she stood between the two taking her mother's shoulders.

_Our timing sucks._

_Story of my life Rose._

"Ya need to calm down right now, please, there's more to this than you realise."

"Calm down she says!" Jackie was raging now and even Rose felt the tiny consciousness flutter unhappily against her mind.

_She's in distress._

_I know I can feel it. I've had enough of this, can you grab her?_

_What?_

The Doctor had just enough time to react as Rose grazed her fingers across her mother's temple causing her to sway as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Pete stepped into the foyer just in time to see the Doctor grab her under the arms as Jack came to help him lift her feet.

"What the bloody h-

"Sorry Dad," Rose sighed following behind Jack and the Doctor as they carried Jackie into the lounge, "I had to put her to sleep, all that yellin' isn't good for the baby."

"You what?" Pete screwed his face up in confusion as he rounded the couch to smooth down his wife's hair. "Rose what's goin' on?"

"I died today," She breathed staring evenly at him, "Somethin' happened that she couldn't possibly understand and Mum over-reacted which started to distress her."

"Under the circumstances I wouldn't call it an over-reaction, of course she'd be distressed" Pete scowled.

"Not her," The Doctor clarified running the sonic over Jackie's abdomen as Jack ducked into the kitchen and returned to set a glass of water down on the coffee table beside her.

"The baby." He crouched down beside the lounge observing the other man as he processed the news with the beginnings of a smile on his lips.

"What?" Pete's eyes snapped from Jackie's face to the Doctor and back again.

"Congratulations Pete," The Doctor murmured, squeezing his shoulder, "Now as for the rest, I think perhaps it would be best if we wait until you're both able to hear about this together."

"Yea, yea," Pete agreed absently as he laid a hand across his wife's stomach and stroked her hair, "And you're sure?"

"Seven weeks, three days and five hours." Rose smiled, her chin resting on the back of the sofa, the Doctor shooting her an indulgent look as she was syphoning off his thoughts.

"How?" He glanced up at his daughter in awe as her hand hovered above his, "How could you possibly know that?"

"She told me." Rose grinned.

"Why would she have kept this from me?" Pete frowned.

"Not Mum," She nodded her head towards Jackie, "She doesn't even know yet."

"Then how-

"She told me," She rest her hand on Pete's now squeezing softly, glancing pointedly at their hands before shooting the Doctor a wink. He shook his head in mild amusement.

"One brilliantly bright son and now," The Doctor smiled. "Two beautiful daughters, you've done quite well for yourself if you ask me."

"A little girl," Pete chuckled, tears welling in his eyes.

"Now," The Doctor gently reached across Pete to touch the skin of Jackie's temple, her eyes fluttering open, "I think you should tell her the good news and we can get on with an explanation."

"Pete?" Jackie frowned, her eyes flashing from her husband to the Doctor as he moved to the back of the lounge beside Rose, "What's goin' on?"

"Oh love," He laughed caressing her cheek, "You took a little turn, but everything's just fine now."

"Been feelin' a little off for a while," She admitted accepting the glass of water he handed to her, "Must've picked up a virus or somethin' from Nursery."

"I'd say more like a parasit-" The Doctor's comment was abruptly shafted by Rose's elbow connecting with his side.

"Jack Harkness?" Jackie's eyes widened as she took in the other figure sitting on the arm of the lounge.

"In the flesh," He beamed, "Miss me?" After ten minutes of smothering Captain Jack in motherly affection, happy to set eyes on a face she hadn't seen since the Doctor was all leather and ears and from what Rose had said, was lost to them as he helped rebuild the Earth in the future, they made their way into the kitchen.

"But this makes no sense though," Jackie commented, "Weren't you back in the other universe?"

"I was," He agreed turning to the Doctor, "The specifics of how I got here are a little hazy at best."

"And that I suppose," The Doctor breathed, "Brings us to the point of the discussion."

"I think I'd like to interrupt just for a moment Doctor," Pete stopped him.

"Quite right," The Doctor nodded taking Rose's hand under the table.

Pet smiled and turned to his wife, "You're not sick Jax," He smiled knowingly, "But I have it on good authority that we will have to book you into a nice flashy room at the Royal in the next few months."

"The hospital?" She laughed, "Why, you finally havin' me commited?"

The Doctor almost snorted tea through his nose.

"No love," He chuckled with a contented sigh, "We're havin' another baby."

"Oh," She laughed swatting his arm, 'Don't be ridiculous."

Her eyes flickered around the table noticing their silence, then landing on the Doctor's raised eyebrow it suddenly made sense and her hand slipped from the table to her belly.

"Again?" She breathed, "So soon?"

"More Tyler's on the way," The Doctor grinned, "Just what this universe needs, brilliant you lot are."

"Oh Pete," She whispered looking to her husband, "Are we really ready for this? I mean Tony's only-"

"You are a brilliant mother Jackie, and if you wanted to fill this entire house with babies I would be more than happy to oblige," He gave her a watery smile, "Just promise me you won't go callin' this one after ya mother yea."

"Another girl," Her eyes flashed to her daughter's beaming face, "But how do you know what sex it is if I didn't even know I was pregnant?"

"The Doctor knew." Pete replied, knowing that if he'd revealed that Rose had told him about the baby telling her, their impending discussion may take a rather unexpectedly bad turn.

"Oh my god, we're havin' another baby," She sobbed happily as Pete chuckled and embraced her, offering his handkerchief as he pulled back to sip his tea, grinning proudly.

"Oh go on," Jackie gestured to the Doctor as she dabbed at her eyes to stop the flow of mascara down her cheeks. "You were gonna tell us something?"

"Not until you promise to keep yourself in check," Rose replied, "Promise you'll be quiet and listen first yea."

"Alright." She nodded cautious now at her daughters tone and suspiscious as Pete put his arm around the back of her chair, "Rose, Doctor what is it, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Jackie," The Doctor assured her leaning forward on the table against his crossed arms. "But something happened today, something that none of us could have possible foreseen."

"What?" She frowned as he seemed to deliberate how best to tell her, "Just spit it out."

"Right of course," He continued nodding, puffing his cheeks out and dipping his chin, "Um, time you see, um, oh bollocks," He scratched his head and pulled at his ear in thought, "oh I know, okay, people assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff." Rose snorted and Jackie just looked confused.

"You got about five more seconds to make sense Martian or I'll-

"Blimey," The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, almost scared by the hormonal human before him, "Today we saw our future, or rather someone from our future, someone I'd thought gone back in the other universe, long before the walls of the universe began to break down."

"Who?"

"My daughter Jenny," He breathed.

"Your dau-" The memories from before she passed out filtered back through her mind and she slammed her hands down against the table.

"You mean that bloody assassin that tried to kill my Rose belongs to you!" She screeched.

"She had no choice Mum," Rose snapped defensively.

"There's always a choice Rose!" She nodded at the Doctor, "That's what he always says!"

"Not in this case," The Doctor replied snapping her attention back to him. "Jenny was a part of a paradox, if she hadn't done what was necessary two universes would have folded back in on themselves." This caught her attention and she folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm listening." Jackie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Jenny came back to us from an unravelling time line," He continued, "One in which both of us were either dead...or dying."

"What?" She gasped.

"She saved us," He pressed on, "By diverging that time line, rewriting her past, our future, so that it never was, but at a price."

"What price." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Rose-"

"I've got it from here Doctor," She rest her hand on his arm giving it a quick squeeze, turning to her mother, regarding her with a serious expression. "I died today Mum, and when I came back, I wasn't-

"Human?" Jackie supplied raising an eyebrow.

"Yea," She nodded frowning at her mother's serene face and the small smile quirking her lips. "Hold on, why are you lookin' at me like you know this already?"

"You think I don't know my own daughter well enough to notice she's changed?" She chuckled at the Doctor's incredulous expression.

"But, how-

"Honestly," She admitted, "I had expected something like this to happen, back when we were in the other universe I used to wait for the day you'd come home with something like this."

"I'm not mad," She added quickly, "A long time ago I might have been, but not now."

She smiled to herself as her thoughts turned to just a few days ago when the two of them had showed up in the TARDIS for a visit only to find the Doctor's driving had yet again been off and deposited them in the wrong time stream. That had been interesting to say the least when they'd had to explain it all to her, especially the existence of the very familiar looking teenage boy who was almost the spitting image of the pinstriped Doctor before her. She frowned at the thought that this turn of events might now change that future.

"What gave me away?" Rose asked effectively breaking across her thoughts, staring at her with wide almost fathomless eyes just like the man beside her.

"Your eyes," She gazed into her eldest child's face thinking that she saw no difference in the face of this Rose and the one from days before, the same thing apparent to her now as it was then, "The colour shifts with your moods now, just like his." Her eyes flickered to the Doctor. "Both of him."

"Are you going back with Jack?" She asked sadly, assuming the worst and fear flashed through her at the prospect of their visits never ever happening in the future.

"Mum?" She saw the flash of fear, could feel it coming of her.

"I'm assuming that if Jack's here," Jackie sniffed, "That you've somehow found another way through to the other side, back home."

"We have and we will," The Doctor nodded, "But for now the TARDIS needs the power of this universe to function so we'll be here mostly, no point having two of me in the one universe, besides that one's practically bursting full of my other regenerations already."

"I don't understand." Jackie frowned looking between the Doctor and Rose.

"Three Time Lords," The Doctor breathed, "And two TARDIS means the walls between worlds are no longer sealed Jackie Tyler, we can come and go as we please."

A myriad of emotions passed across her face as she processed this new information and then suddenly she settled on one and opened her mouth.

"When you see the other Doctor," She pointed a finger at him, "You tell him I wanna word with im'."

Her comment signalled the arrival of Donna and Martha followed by a near endless stream of giggling and hugging and cooing over Jackie's stomach after Pete told them the good news immediately followed by an almighty scream from the soon to be 'middle' Tyler as he announced the end of his nap from the floor above.

Rose and the Doctor caught up to speed with the schedule with the Doctor offering to walk Martha down the aisle, the woman herself almost tackling him into a garden bed as she hugged him happily. Preparations for the following day were in full swing, the Marquee and seating were up and having the finishing touches added, the flowers arranged and fairy lights twinkled through the many trees around the garden in the twilight.

Jackie had arranged a special treat for Martha and her bride's maids instead of the usual pub trip and strippers, Rose thankfully, managing to sneak out and thus avoid the oncoming facial and manicure that followed an evening of chick flicks and chocolate. She grinned at Jack's reluctance to attend Jake's buck's night but in the end he'd given up the fight as the groom-to-be pulled him into a waiting limo and ordered the driver to the nearest pub, dragging the former Time Agent and her father away with him. She slipped out into the cool night air and was momentarily stunned as her body easily adjusted to the temperature.

"Thermo-regulation," She smirked, "Gotta love it!"

She grinned up at the stars as she strode across the lawn and into the TARDIS to find the Doctor tinkering under the console.

"You ready?" The sound of the Doctor's voice made her smile as she turned towards him.

"Yea." She grinned skipping around the console til she stood in front of the monitor.

"Quick trip to Cardiff and we'll be all set." The TARDIS shuddered slightly, a few seconds later settling on the rift as he pulled the handbrake.

He reefed up a floor plate and pulled two silver bands attached to a long grey conduit and control box which he plugged into the console and soniced in place. He slipped a band over Rose's head and an identical one onto his as he stood beside her.

"Now," The Doctor began, "Remember how I called to you the day I burnt up that sun?"

"How could I forget," She smiled sadly at him and he nodded.

"All you have to do is think of me, well the other me, but not this me cause obviously I'm already here and he isn't this me anymore, SO, the TARDIS and I will use this thingama-jigga here," He waved the device in his hand at her. "To fold back the edges of the universe, when the other TARDIS picks up the emissions from this baby she'll lock on and help hold the signal stable. Use our bond as a guide, it'll take a little longer to filter through on his end but in theory once he senses it he should help pull your signal through and we'll see it here." He pulled the monitor around a little more, "You remember what I look like?"

"Of course," Rose snorted pressing a quick kiss to his lips before she shut her eyes.

"Right," He grinned flipping a switch on the console, watching as the monitor swirled and spun at a million miles a minute, "Channels open, TARDIS engaging dimensional stabilisers, folding back...now, signal locked and holding. Have you got anything yet?"

"I dunno," She replied her eyes shut tightly, "There's somethin' jus' outta reach, but it's not the other universe, I don't think I've even made it across the void yet."

"What!" He exclaimed typing furiously at the keyboard with his free hand.

"Doctor I can hear something, it's, it's the other TARDIS," She hissed, "She's in pain- she's-oh god what's happened to you."

"I know I can see," His eyes widened in horror as their TARDIS groaned and whimpered, "What has he done?"


	25. Chapter 25

"I've got him," Rose gasped, "He's weak, oh god Doctor."

"It's alright," He assured her reaching across to tweak a dial, "Just hold on, the TARDIS is extrapolating his position and reaching out through the void, we're pulling him in."

"What do you mean pullin' im' in?" Rose grit her teeth stumbling slightly as her link to the two Doctor's splintered before her eyes.

"We have to get him out of the void," The Doctor clenched another cable in his teeth as he gave the console a wallop with the mallet. "TARDIS has locked on."

"He's dyin'- ." Rose cried as she felt Eleven reach out to her. "Doctor!"

"Get ready!" He shouted as the ship rumbled and groaned.

"For what?" She shrieked.

"To catch!" He shouted pulling three levers in quick secession,

"On my mark," He cried over the screaming of the ship.

"Three-" Rose counted with him.

"Two-"

"Dropping shields, Now!" He smashed the console once more.

"One." Rose braced herself.

A crack opened up above her head and the Doctor stepped back to her side just in time to help cushion the fall of the bandy legged man that dropped from the ceiling, his head cradled against the soft flesh of Rose's chest as they crumpled to the floor.

After a few moments and a flashing of lights a painful groan caught their attention as the Doctor opened his eyes, the TARDIS dimming the lighting to just the soft glow of the rotor itself. He looked up at the woman above him.

"Hello." She smiled despite their crumpled and uncomfortable spot on the grating.

"Rose?" He muttered closing his eyes again. "I must be dead."

"No you're not," The Doctor in pinstripes scoffed extricating himself from the other man's legs.

"Have I always been that melodramatic?"

"Yup," Rose grinned at him as the Doctor in her lap groaned again.

"Come on you." The pinstriped Doctor dragged his counter-part off Rose and helped him stumble to the jump seat, running the sonic over him briefly.

"Get off me," Eleven swatted at his hands, "Let me die in peace."

Ten rolled his eyes at himself. "Rose I need liquid pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, in the infirmary, TARDIS has already drawn it up, go quickly."

"Stop talking about her like she's here." Eleven tried to lift himself away from the man who held him to the chair and tried unsuccessfully to remove his jacket.

"Get off," He moaned again.

"Here," Rose appeared at his other side helping pull his arm out and shirt sleeve up, the syringe clasped in her teeth.

"Nice and deep," Ten instructed as Rose uncapped the needle, "Easy does it."

"Owww." Eleven shrieked as she emptied the contents into his arm.

"You're such a girl." She rolled her eyes, slipping the recapped needle into a hole in the console.

"I beg your pardon but are hallucinations meant to be this mouthy and insulting," Eleven muttered sagging against the chair and Ten's side.

"Depends what you've been dreamin' bout me Doctor." Rose waggled her eyebrows, her tongue caught between her teeth.

"Ah now that's more like it." Eleven smirked.

"That's right mate," Ten quipped dryly, "Dig yourself a deeper hole."

"This dream has way too many clothes on." Eleven muttered trying to reach out to her.

"Oh there we go." Ten smirked.

"How long until he responds?" Rose asked as she sat down beside them, Eleven shooting her a saucy side-long glance.

"Oh, I'd say right about-" Eleven took a sharp intake of breath as he launched from the chair and across the room, gripping at the console to steady himself. He turned to himself and Rose, anger flashing in his now dark eyes.

"-Now."

"Who are you?" He demanded, "What have you done to my TARDIS, oh, oh, no, no, no, she's gone, this is wrong, so very, very wrong." He clutched at his head and Ten nudged Rose off the jump seat towards him.

"Doctor?" She approached him cautiously, placing a hand on his arm. "What happened?"

"Leave me along," He shrugged her hand off. "Let me die in peace."

"Doctor?" She frowned.

"You know I went willingly into the crack so I could avoid reliving all of this," Eleven muttered angrily, "Why can't you let me be?"

"You think we're not real?" She asked softly.

"Of course you're not real," He spat, "You're an image, a hallucination, synapses and neurons making a last ditch attempt at a restart, firing off my memory cells and senses, my entire life flashing before my eyes, like I said, can't stand reruns."

"Ok then," She breathed, "Then humour yourself and tell me what happened?"

"Oh, total event collapse." He dropped his hands limply to his sides, still refusing to acknowledge her reality.

"What?" Ten frowned, his feet crossed upon the console as he observed them. "That's impossible, we would have felt something like that, it would have rippled through the tangents, destroyed them all-"

"No, no, no," Eleven tutted, "Your reality would've barely even flinched, not with you here to stabilise it."

"How did this happen Doctor?" Rose breathed.

"A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies, nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it-"

"The Pandorica's a fairytale." Ten scoffed.

"It was a prison," Eleven corrected, a little annoyed that even his hallucinated previous self was still as ass. "Built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines the whole shebang."

Rose took a step closer and ghosted her hand up his chest, skimming the skin of his neck to place her hand on his cheek, watching as his eyes turned from green to dark brown.

"Who?" Ten dropped his feet to the floor as Eleven lifted his gaze to his brother.

"Us." He breathed.

"No," Ten moved closer shaking his head in disbelief.

"They put you in prison?" Rose whispered, "How could they? Who were they?"

"Oh but you should have seen it," Eleven chuckled darkly, "An all mighty alliance of our greatest enemies, fighting together for the greater good of universe."

"Who?" Ten pressed.

"Oh the usual," He gestured wildly, "Dalek, Cybermen, Sontarans, Terileptil. Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene. Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian." He replied casually, "Pretty much the who's who of scum in the universe."

"How did you stop it?" Ten breathed.

"Flew the Pandorica into her heart as she exploded," He ran his fingers across the console, "A restoration field holding the atoms of the universe as it once was-"

"Exploding at every moment in history," Ten finished nodding in understanding.

"Then time began to rewind itself, rewriting itself," Eleven sniffed, "Except I had to be on the other side, which coincidentally brings us to now."

"Lucky there's us then," Rose smiled up at him, "You know you're rubbish without me."

He finally turned to her then, cupping her face as she held his. "Seems fitting that I should see you one last time," He breathed pulling her forehead against his, "I always hoped you'd have a brilliant life with him, no matter how much it hurt and my gods Rose did if ever, even after all this time. But at least my mind had the decency to give me this last attempt at absolution one last chance to be with you. Tell me Rose, please, please, please tell me you have a brilliant life and I loved you like you deserved."

"Always." She whispered wiping the tears from his cheeks. "And I'm sorry, so, so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He stopped her, pulling back to see his face. "Never apologise to me, you never had to and you never will."

"I know," She agreed, his hands slipping from her face as she took a step away from him,

"But this is gonna hurt."

"I don't follow-

_SLAP!_

He reeled back at the intensity of the blow to his cheek that he barely stayed upright, his flailing hand now gripped to the console the only thing keeping him from the floor.

"Now snap out of it," She demanded as Eleven glanced between her determined face and his previous forms all consuming smirk in confusion.

"I'm afraid she's right ol' boy," Ten sniffed, "You're not dead, or dying, an idiot maybe-"

'Oi," Rose defended, "Leave 'im alone."

"Rose Tyler," Eleven chuckled, "Defending me from myself."

"Don't you start," She turned back, "He's right, you really ain't half thick for someone with a great big brain."

"Work it out Doctor," She flicked his hair gently as she fluttered against his mind, he frowned at the feeling, "Ohh, wha's that then?"

"What are you doing?" He looked at her curiously, "If this isn't a dream, what are you?"

"Guess." She challenged.

"I hate games."

"Liar," She smirked back, "Can't get enough of em' you can't, or bets, you know you still owe me Ten Quid from Scotland?"

"Rose?" He whispered, the pieces of his current reality finally falling into place.

"Oh now he gets it." Ten drawled as he leant against the console behind her.

"And you," Eleven's eyes flickered up to pinstriped man behind him.

"Hello," He waved before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"But-"

"We pulled you from the void." Ten saw realisation dawn on him and chuckled as he swept Rose up in his arms and spun her around, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Haha, Rose you brilliant old thing you." He beamed.

"Oi less of the old thanks," She laughed as he finally placed her back on the floor.

"And you!" He exclaimed pulling clutching Ten in manly half embrace.

"And look at all this," He spun around grinning at the ceiling, "It worked, she's brand new."

"Oh yes." Ten beamed back, Rose leaning against his side grinning at him so much her face was beginning to hurt.

She watched him as he cooed and stroked the new ship, much to her delight, sauntering around the console just like he always had. He was a little taller now she noted, still skinny as ever, his face younger, hair less pointy and everywhere but still great. The bow tie was cool, she thought and the tweed jacket made him look like a mad professor, especially with his slightly too short trousers and boots. He was different, but somehow still managed to come off as brilliantly sexy.

"I'm glad you still approve then." His head turned to hers as he stood at the console, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Oops," She bit her bottom lip, "Forgot you were in ma head."

"I didn't," Ten smirked, he was glad she approved of this him because as far as he knew, with his regenerations now restored, he would eventually wear this man's face too.

"You know every time you say something like that it just proves what I said at Dominic's wedding," She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Speaking of weddings," Eleven mused mirroring his brother's position against the console, "I dare say I've missed Pond's by now."

"Pond?" Ten queried.

"As in Amy Pond," He clarified, "Companion, wanders off a lot, another ginger with a bad temper."

"We just can't seem to quite manage it." Ten mused running a hand through his hair.

"I know." Eleven whined petulantly.

"Funny that," Rose mused, "That's her name too."

"Whose?" Eleven asked playing with a switch on the console.

"The TARDIS," Rose supplied, "Her names Pond too, 'cause she was grown in a pond, and she kinda liked it, so it stuck." The ship hummed happily and Eleven grinned.

"I still call mine 'Sexy'," He whispered to the TARDIS.

"I think she likes that one too." Ten agreed, he always did like spoiling her like that, calling her lovely names and stroking parts to make her feel better and loved.

"I saw the Master again you know, and the Time Lords, Rassilon in fact." Eleven added conversationally, "When I was still you."

"I know," He nodded, "I was there."

"What?" Eleven scoffed, sobering at the look Ten shot him, "No? How?"

"We were dying," Rose breathed from his side. "The TARDIS pulled him through when you regenerated, so he's both you and the other him. The tenth version of you entirely."

"Hold on you said we?" Eleven breathed ghosting a hand down her arm as if he were afraid to touch her. "We were dying, but you're not-"

"Self fulfilling paradox," Rose raised an eyebrow with a smile. "All good now though."

"And no," Ten added, "We can't tell you. Spoilers"

"Oh that blasted woman and her spoilers," Eleven muttered, "She'll be the death of me, quite literally I'm sure of it."

"Her hearts in the right place," Rose laughed, "And don't ask how I know that-"

"I know, I know," He scoffed mimicking River's voice, "Spoilers."

"You know it's creepy when you do that." Rose scrunched up her nose.

"Ah but then you make that face and it's all worthwhile," He teased and felt the fluttering of her mind against his.

"Hold on," He stared at her, "What's this," He flicked at the edges of her consciousness, "Is that a bond?" He shot an amused questioning look at his brother.

"Is it?" Ten feigned ignorance.

"Doctor," Rose shot him a pleading look and flared inside his mind.

_You know he won't work it out on his own._

_Oh come on Rose, this is fun._

_He's lonely, we're all he's got._

"Oh alright then," He rolled his eyes, "But leave out the specifics, and right now percussive telepathy probably isn't the best thing for him so be gentle."

"Percussive-" Eleven's question was cut short as a set of cool soft lips caressed his own and a warm pulsing pinky-gold fog danced around his mind waiting for permission. He cautiously opened his in response and suddenly she flooded through him, his knees buckling. He was thankful for the arm that wrapped around his middle, holding him in place against the console.

"I said be gentle," The amused voice of his brother filtered through his mind.

"Sorry." Rose giggled.

"Rose?" Eleven raised an eyebrow but kept his eyes closed

"Yes Doctor." She replied waiting for the obvious.

"You're in my head." He stated, a frown creasing his brow.

"Oh yes." She replied with a grin.

He stilled as she filled him in on the last few weeks of their lives, gasping when she got to the last few hours and his mind shot out in search of his brother, humming just outside of his consciousness beside Rose so close to that corner of his mind that had been dark and quiet for much too long. He buckled again as their twin heart beats thumped along with his, not in perfect unison though which made him frown.

"Your bio-rhythms are out of synch." He mumbled when Rose ceased her assault on his mouth.

"Are you offering to rectify that Doctor?" Rose smirked, her tone husky from her previous engagement. He suddenly became hyperaware of the man beside him and his eyes snapped open taking in her flushed appearance as she stood almost wedged between the two of them.

"I think your _mate_," His eyes flicked to the other Doctor, "Might have something to say about that."

"He's you dopey." She raised an eyebrow salaciously.

Ten just giggled, amused by the whole situation. Her chemistry still hadn't settled after the quasi-regeneration, hence the mismatched signatures and exceptionally high dose of pheromones she was giving off. He briefly wonder how his other self could stand it, he personally was about five minutes away from jumping her where she stood. Then again, his brother could just as easily reset them, he glanced at Rose as she stood before Eleven attempting to eyeball him into submission noticing only now that she had in fact grown a quarter of an inch in height, the peroxide blond of her hair stripped to her original darkened shade and nearly four inches longer, trailing a delicious line over her black coat and down her back. His musing however, was interrupted by a flashing on the console and a ringing phone. He reached across the console for the handset.

"Good ship TARDIS," He chirped into the receiver, "This is the Doctor."

He held the phone from his ear as the voice of Jackie Tyler assaulted his senses.

"It's for you." He cringed and Rose smirked as she took the phone from him.

"So," Eleven breathed sidling up beside Ten as Rose flopped down onto the jump seat arguing with her mother, "Been keeping busy I see."

"You know how it is," He grinned up from behind the monitor, "We just came from the Shadow Proclamation, interesting lot in this universe, not like the rubbish back home."

"Good," He nodded, "That's good."

"She's right you know." Ten acknowledged returning to work on the console. "She's just as much yours as she is mine."

"Yes, well," He muttered, "We never were all that good at sharing."

"No," He chuckled in agreement, "But we belong to-"

"Speaking of which-" He interrupted the awkward moment, "How do you propose getting me back to where I belong?"

Ten ceased his movements and turned to lean against the console with his hands in his pockets regarding his next face curiously.

"You're not alone anymore," He narrowed his eyes, 'You do realise what the three of us mean?"

"Of course I do," Eleven snapped, "But you have her, why would you be bothered with me eh? A whole universe here to travel-"

"Don't pretend you didn't send us away to protect us," Ten stopped him, "Because you know as well as I do, that we're the only family we have left, you've had a glimpse of our future-"

"Your future, not mine." He reminded him harshly.

"We're still the same man." Ten seethed, "She's your wi-"

"Don't-" He closed his eyes, "Please, just don-"

"You want her as much as I do," Ten snipped, "Even without a full bond her pheromones are driving you to distraction and then some-"

"I'd forgotten what a-" Eleven stuttered.

"I know," Ten agreed, "It's been far too long since we've even seen another of our kind let alone a woman, especially not one that's ours-"

"Oh god will you stop that-"

"That's nothing," Ten edged him on through the denial, "She feels even better and that was before-"

"Stop it," He breathed heavily, "Besides her choice would be you every time."

"Oh you stupid old man," Ten glared hearing Rose in the final stages of her phone call, "Whether you like it or not, she loves you, us, no matter what regeneration, and her and I will always be here for you, and you better remember it, cause I remember what it felt like to leave us on the beach, to walk away like that, I was there, on both sides and it hurt, but we understood. We are family and we are not alone anymore."

Eleven sighed heavily and nodded his head, stifling a gasp as Rose reached across him to return the phone to the console.

"Now," Ten turned back to the monitor, "The TARDIS has a stable link through the void to her sister and when she's ready for you to come home they'll let us know." He waved the sonic around by means of explanation.

"In the meantime we have a wedding to prepare for," He looked to Rose, "Commander Tyler has recalled us?"

"Nah, she just wanted to make sure we didn't swan off and miss it," Rose grinned nudging Eleven, "Mum is sooo lookin' forward to seein' you though."

"She's not going to slap me again is she?" Eleven swallowed rubbing his reddened cheek as Ten bounced round the console setting co-ordinates for the Tyler Mansion.

"Nah," She laughed, "Besides this one may soon be ahead of ya, we sorta haven't told her about you know-"

"The bonding?" He frowned.

"Ahh," He breathed resting against the console in front of her, "But she knows you're not human anymore."

"Turned out after everything we've been through she'd sort of worked it out," Rose replied, "I mean not quite to this extent, but I think she's always known that one day I wouldn't be, she even said as much once upon a time."

"Anyway," Ten grinned pulling on a set of goggles and tossing a hose over his shoulder, "I'm off to power room 15, tweak a few things here and there, see if we can't use the secondary stabilisers as an arc to balance a wormhole through the tangent and back home. See if we can't pop over for tea with Mr Mickey."

"And Martha," Eleven added, "Remember?"

"Oh yes!" Ten laughed. "Martha Smith! Brilliant name, more Smith's that's what I say."

"Mickey and Martha?" Rose smiled. "Really?"

"Yup."

"Makes me wanna go see em' even more now," She grinned, "He deserved the best."

"That he did," Ten agreed shuffling over to Rose.

"Right," Eleven patted his pocket awkwardly and pulled out his sonic, "I'll come give you a hand."

"Oh no you're not," Ten stopped him, "You reek of void stuff, you're exhausted and you haven't eaten in," He sniffed his brother, "Six days, seventeen hours and ten minutes. Rose take him to the kitchen then the wardrobe, oh and show him to the shower with the good jets up on corridor fifty-two, haven't tried it out yet but it looks like a blast."

"Oh you're funny," Rose snorted.

"Yup," He popped grinning manically, pressing a lingering kiss to her mouth.

_I'm all yours. He needs you but he'll resist._

_I'll take good care of you, I love you ya know._

_I know._

"Go on off you go." She smirked patting his bottom affectionately when he wasn't paying attention. He flashed a wink at her as he strode away down the corridor.

"Alons-y." He shouted back along the corridor followed by a whistled version of 'I touch myself' which made her roll her eyes.

_Git_

_He he, off you go Rose, play nice._

"Come on then," Rose smiled slipping off the seat and pulling Eleven after her, "The TARDIS has got a nice big bowl of fish fingers n custard waitin' for you."

"How did she-"

"She's your ship," She grinned up at him as they strolled down the corridor and stepped into the kitchen, "Remember that no matter what face you wear, we know you." She tapped her temple.

"You never needed that to know me Rose Tyler." He murmured watching as she poured them both a mug of tea and sat down across from him.

"No," She agreed, "But it helps me understand now, how you process things, the reasonin' behind everythin' you do, it hasn't been all that long but I'm learnin'."

"I have to admit," He dunked his fish finger thoughtfully, "This particular future, I-I never saw it coming, I mean it was a possibility but realistically-"

"Something's been playin' with us since the first time we ever met." She raised an eyebrow as she pinched a treat from his plate and twirled it around in the custard before popping it in her mouth.

"You think?" He smiled glancing up at her through his hair.

"Yup," She smirked licking custard from her fingers, "The stuff of legends you an' me."

He laughed and continued eating, only now fully comprehending just how drained he was from almost dying in the Pandorica to his stint in the void.

"Do you remember being in my dream?" She asked quietly. "With the others-"

"Yes." He admitted from behind his mug, draining the liquid and setting it back on the table.

"Good." She nodded, a brilliant smile spreading across her face, "You done?"

"Are you that anxious to get me out of these clothes Tyler?" He smirked then coughed awkwardly as he realised he was beginning to respond to her again. Her corresponding laughter feeling like music to his ears, something he hadn't heard in a lifetime.

He let her pull him from the table and down the hall, past the bins, up the stairs past the pool and down corridor fifty-two to a large door with steam curling out through the gaps. He wasn't sure if the butterflies dancing about his middle were from anticipation or dread as she coaxed him into the barely visible room with a small gesture of her finger.

The warm glow of the TARDIS lighting and the steam gave the room an almost dream like quality with Rose in its centre moving towards him as if in slow motion, her dark golden hair cascading over her shoulders as she slipped off her coat. She was like some otherworldly goddess tempting him with her siren's call through his mind and a scrap of fabric he scarcely believed passed as a dress.

He shuddered as stepped up to him, her deft fingers running up his chest and over his shoulders, pushing his jacket from his body to the damp tiled floor, his bowtie following closely behind. He slipped his boots from his feet and looked up to see Rose giggling at his bare toes.

"Something funny Missy?" He raised an eyebrow as she even so slowly slid his suspenders off his shoulders and ran her fingers up his arms and back across his chest popping buttons as she slid her hands lower and lower. He bit down on his tongue to mute a small groan of anticipation.

"No socks," She smirked, tongue caught in her teeth, "Jus wonderin' what else this you goes without."

"I'm sure you'll find out," He whispered as his long fingers ghosted her sides stilling against her back as her nails scraped down the cool smooth flesh of his chest she'd now exposed.

She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt his hearts thundering under her hands. She could smell him now, his pheromones beginning to mix with the steam in the air, heightened by her newfound alien senses he was intoxicating and beautiful and dear god if she thought she wanted him before when she was human, this, this paled in comparison as her own pheromones drenched the atmosphere to mingle with his.

"Rose." He whimpered, his shirt falling to the floor as she pulled him into the hot spray of the shower by the top of his trousers. He coughed and spluttered briefly as the jets extended up the walls to accommodate his height, momentarily blinding him. It was a distraction Rose used to her advantage, turning them so his back pressed up against the cool tiles, leaning against his front as her hands curled up around his neck and into his hair to pull him down to meet her lips.

An almost growl rumbled through his chest as she devoured his mouth, the feeling of her tongue against sliding against his and the gentle caress at the corners of his consciousness slowly becoming his undoing as bit by bit his barriers began to shift. His long fingers slid up her arm and around to grasp the nape of her neck, holding her to him as his other hand shifted to the back of her dress, slowly dragging down the zipper until the scrap of cloth slid down her body to pool at her feet. One completely naked Rose Tyler standing before him now in all her glory.

"You," He murmured splaying his fingers across the exposed flesh of her back, "Are a very, very naughty girl."

"Hmmm, aren't I just." She grinned wickedly up at him.

He turned her suddenly and pulled her back against his chest, his arms sliding around her body and up between the delicious swell of her breasts to her throat as his other arm wound its way down over her hip to rest against her belly, his mouth finding the delicate skin of her neck and biting down. He felt her body relax in silent submission and he growled as she pressed her bottom against yet another set of 'unused parts' still enclosed in the confines of his trousers.

"Say it." He bit down on her earlobe before following a rivulet of water down her neck.

"Doctor," She whimpered as he pinched her nipple between his fingers as he cupped her breast.

"No," He hissed, fingers stopping on her pelvis painfully short of where she wanted him.

He trembled as his name tumbled beautifully from her lips and she moaned as his mind spread open to her, pulling her in to sooth and calm the storm while urging on the fire in his belly. Her hands slid around behind her to the fastening of his trousers and a second later he kicked them away to join her dress on the floor. Her body practically screamed at him when presented with a lack of barriers between them and her legs almost buckled as he sought out the soft flesh between her legs.

"Do you know how many times I've dreamt of this?" He nuzzled her ear, "Three different bodies Rose, all for you, wanting you."

"You smell amazing and you feel," She whimpered again as he stroked her, "Oh, you feel indescribable, I never thought this big old head of mine would ever feel another-"

"I hope that's not all you can feel Doctor," She craned her neck back to steal the breath from his lips as she ground back into his hips. He released her long enough to turn before he crushed her against him, the feel of her softness on his already sensitive flesh driving him to pull her up off the floor until he felt her long smooth legs wrap around his hips.

She had a fleeting thought regarding their propensity to shag against walls but it was gone as she felt him sliding down the tiles, thankful that the TARDIS opted for soft organics as they landed on the floor with her straddling him. She felt his internal battle between the need to take her and his own exhaustion.

She took away his ability to think as she took him in hand, perfectly proportional just like his other self, and leant forward to bite into his shoulder as she slid down around him. Their shared connection thrumming and the sound of their sighs of relief becoming music to her ears.

"Oh dear...guh," He grasped at her hips and he felt her acknowledgement as his body reacted to hers, his forehead rest against her sternum, grinning against her skin as his biological markers flooded her system and she released a deep guttural moan as he burnt through her veins, gathering and intensifying the traces of his other self, the two becoming one once more. He felt his brother, ten floors below them, flare in his mind as Rose sucked in a harsh breath, all three of their biorhythms synching together as one, her heartbeats faltering only slightly as he felt their pulsing familiarity through her back as he cradled her against him.

And then she moved and it was like nothing he ever remembered experiencing before, each time she lowered herself driving him deeper into her blazing tempest of a body.

"Ohhh... destant rialth befirgone danathal tu mela" she gasped, grinding down on him.

"Rose Tyler," He groaned, "Where on Earth did you hear such filthy language."

"Not on Earth that's for sure," She breathed clutching at his hair pulling hard. "You cuss at the TARDIS a lot you know."

When he returned the gesture it was as if he'd released some unknown barrier and she screamed through him like a hurricane, blazing across his mind, setting fire to his blood and skin, every part of him tingling with pleasure and her, oh so much of her was still a big part of him.

She increased her efforts, expressing vocally, in his language, just how brilliant he was as she rode him with blissful abandon, their wet skin sliding together setting them both on fire with each caress. He was so close to losing it all, being pushed every second forward by her body's reaction to him and him to her, echoing off each other until he knew he was done for.

In one final surge of minds they broke through each other, the Doctor biting down on a hard nipple as she tipped them over the edge, her head thrown back in a loud wordless moan as her whole body convulsed and she contracted around him, milking him dry and draining him of his remaining energy. She held him close to her hearts as his exhaustion took over.

He was vaguely aware of a strong set of familiar arms hoisting him from the floor and the soft warm feeling of a robe wrapping around his body. The next thing he felt was the soft surface of a mattress below him and the soothing caress of starlight above him and the song of the universe as he surrendered finally to the pull of sleep, a small smile gracing his thin lips.

_Sweet dreams Theta._

* * *

_**To be Continued...**  
_

_**Of course there's more, but you'll have to be good little whovians and wait patiently for the next installment coming soon. xoxo  
**_


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